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**Jofjes is on safe js; found, 
same as I did 


You ll have to back down the 


THE 

AWAKENING 

OF 

LESTERVILLE 


A NOVEL 


BY 

EUGENE L. SMALL 


PUBLISHED IN 

CHICAGO LAWN, ILLINOIS 
1918 



COPYRIGHT, 1918, 

BY 

EUGENE L. SMALL. 



SEP 16 1918 


■if i jijPfc 624 Ensrlewood Print Shop, 417 W. 63d St. 


©Ci.A506037 

I 




DEDICATION 


This novel, in its next local edi- 
tion, will be dedicated to that man in 
Kansas City, or group of men, who 
dares to get back of the big program 
herein set forth. 



















AWAKENING of LESTERVILLE 

Table of Contents 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. A New Vocation 13 

II. Off to the Field of Labor . . 22 

III. First Day in the Village ... 27 

IV. Delbert with His Co-worker 44 

V. In the Home of the Rays . . 63 

VI. Down the Distant Ages ... 65 

VII. Enemies of Civilization ... 78 

VIII. Getting Ready for Action. 91 

IX. A Friendly Enemy 100 

X. Dayton to Attack Jones ... 115 

XI. First Battle 126 

XII. Second Battle 154 

XIII. A Little Scheme 177 

XIV. Black Takes a Hand 185 

XV. Dayton Next Morning .... 203 

XVI. Jones in Constructive Mood 215 

XVII. Platform of Agreements . . 227 
XVIII. An Important Principle . . 238 
XIX. A Monument to Uncle Si . . 247 















INTRODUCTION 


The author wishes to request that this novel 
be judged on a basis of naturalness in the sphere 
in which it takes its setting. It was not intended 
for scholars on the one hand, nor can it be ap- 
preciated by those who habitually refuse to think. 

Delbert Jones and Maytie Ray are intended 
as representative young people in their profession, 
which makes their message the more valuable. 
If they were mentally or otherwise super-normal, 
they might be tempted into an abstract discus- 
sion; as it is, they deliver a practical message. 
It is a redeeming thing about Mr. Dayton and Mr. 
Towne that they do not put up a hard fight, as 
many of their class do. These two men are either 
too wise or too honest to oppose Mr. Jones when 
they know he is in the right. 

The book is addressed to the old as well as 
the young — to the old in the hope that a larger 
view of the vital things contained may still be 
appreciated, and to the young as a warning 
against that narrowness and conceit which pre- 
vents the full unfoldment of the mind and heart 
and retards the progress of mankind. 

E. L. SMALL, 

Chicago Lawn^ Illinois, June, 1918, 




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CHAPTER I. 


A NEW VOCATION 

It was after supper in his sister’s home in 
Chicago, which for several years had also 
been his home, that Delbert Jones began 
telling of times and events that used to be. 
Whether his niece’s history, lying care- 
lessly in the window, or the young people in 
the park across the way had anything to do 
with his particular recollections at that time, 
no one will ever know. Speaking to his 
sister he said : 

“Do you know, Flo, what I was doing 
ten years ago to-night at this very hour? 
Give you two minutes.” 

“Couldn’t guess if you’d give me two 
hours,” replied Flora. “That part of my 
mental machinery which was running ten 
years ago is all rusty now.” 

13 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“One cannot forget so fast as that, Flo. 
In fact, they say we never forget anything. 
You don’t just know which button to press 
to start the machinery a-gorng. That’s the 
trouble. W ell. I’ll tell you what I Avas doing. 
I was getting ready to attend the commence- 
ment exercises of my class. I received a 
high school diploma that night. Remember? 
JMy, but we yoxmgsters thought we Avere 
smart!” 

“Well, you did have lots to be proud of, 
Delbert. You were only seventeen, and had 
made jmur way through high school by your 
OAAm eflForts — no one furnished you with a 
cent. And do you remember what happened 
after the exercises that night?” 

“I remember that Mr. Brown came for- 
ward and congratulated me and told me that 
if I Avanted a position in their wholesale 
clothing store at ten dollars a week to come 
to work Monday morning. I remember, too, 
14 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


that I went. Ten dollars a week looked big 
to me then.” 

“Let’s see. You worked for Brown and 
Company a little more than three years, re- 
ceiving several nice raises, and quit with 
about $900 in your pocket to take up a course 
in the university.” 

“But I thought your mental machinery 
was rusty in that part, Flo.” 

“And, during the four years you were in 
the university, you more than made your 
way by selling life insurance. You must 
have had over $1,000 when you started to 
the theological seminary. Do you remem- 
ber, Delbert, why you quit studying theology 
at the end of the first year?” 

“Never mind now ! Your memory of some 
things is altogether too good.” 

“Yes, and what advantage has your edu- 
cation ever been to you, Delbert ? Don’t you 
sometimes Avish you had your money back, 
and your time?” 


15 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Never! The college spirit, the associa- 
tion, and the broader view of life one gets, 
to say nothing of the little useful education 
one picks up, is worth many times its cost.” 

“But, when you graduated from the uni- 
versity and put in a year ‘in the seminary, you 
went right onto the road for the Company. 
Does j^our college education help you sell 
clothing?” 

“Certainly ! It helps me to approach men. 
I have no fear of being awkward either in 
actions or in language. And it prepares me 
for emergencies. And then, think of the 
pleasant recollections I have — the memories 
of those college days. If ever I raise a fam- 
ily, Flo, I shall give my children all the edu- 
cation they have the desire and capacity for.” 

“Go to the door, Delbert, and answer the 
bell, please, my;.lap’s full.” 

“Hello! Yes! Bring it in!” 

“Who is it, Delbert?” 

“Messenger boy with a telegram.” 

16 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Hope there’s no bad news. My, Delbert, 
I bet it’s about Grace. I fear she’s dead. 
Goodness !” 

“Don’t get fidgety now. Suppose it’s 
from the Company. They probably want 
to see me at the office to-morrow.” 

“Sign right there on the third line, mister.” 

“Goodness’ sake, Delbert, read it! No, 
don’t read it till you give me a hint of what 
it’s about.” 

“Get your smelling salts now, and prepare 
for a shock, little bundle of nerves !” 

“I don’t care. I just hate telegi'ams. You 
can never tell what to expect. I wish such a 
thing as the telegraph had never been in- 
vented. Samuel F. B. INIorse should have 
been hanged.” 

“Let the ashes of that great man rest in 
peace, Flo. Listen! 

“ ‘Lesterville, Michigan, 6-18-18. Del- 
bert Jones, 6539 Duane Ave., Chicago. 
Board met, considered references, unani- 
17 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


mously elected you to teach in the High 
Room of our school ensuing year at $100 per 
month. We are mailing contract to-day. 
W. L. Bain, Director.’ ” 

“What does that mean, Delbert?” 

“It means that I am going to quit the road 
to take up the profession of my choice. I am 
mentally rested now from my five years of 
close study in college.” 

“Well, well, well ! I know it has been your 
ambition, though, from a child up, to be a 
college professor; and I suppose, Delbert, 
it is necessary to begin at the foot of the 
ladder. But what will the Company say?” 

“They will not be surprised. My contract 
is up, and I had a little argument with the 
manager the other day.” 

“Ah! I seel Some hard feelings between 
you 1” 

“None whatever, Flo. On the contrary he 
offered me a raise in salary of $200 a year if 
I would continue. You see, this is the way 
18 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


it was: About a month ago, they told me 
they wanted me to open up new territory in 
Iowa, as they do scarcely any business in that 
state now. So, for a month back, I have been 
‘breaking in’ a new man to take my place in 
Wisconsin. The fellow starts out by him- 
self Monday. 

“About a week ago, the manager came up 
to Madison to see me and explain the modus 
operandi of getting a foot-hold in Iowa. 
Now, the different tricks which they wanted 
me to resort to in order to get customers 
were not to my liking, and I told him that 
I would not take up the work, and that I did 
not care to continue longer with the Com- 
pany as I had other plans.” 

“Then I ’phoned a teachers’ agency on 
Van Buren street that I wanted a school. I 
sent references to the agency, which they 
forwarded to a board over in Michigan, and 
this telegram is the result.” 

“I suppose, now, you’ll settle down and 
19 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


get married, won’t you, Delbert? Get some 
school ma’am probably — some one who can’t 
sew on a button or darn a stocking or make 
a loaf of bread or — ” 

“Hold on, now! Just hold on! Why is a 
woman’s mind always running to matri- 
mony? When I’m ready to marry I’ll try. 
to get a teacher of domestic science in some 
high school.” 

“Well, I don’t know. That might do. 
When does your school begin?” 

“Last Monday in August. But I want to 
land there the Saturday before to ‘get my 
bearings’, as they say. It’s only a little two- 
room school in the country village of Lester- 
ville, about four miles off the railroad. I 
shall have the seventh, eighth, ninth, and 
tenth grades. The primary teacher will 
have the grades below. 

“Well, it’s getting late,” said Delbert. 
“Good night, sis! Guess I’ll retire and see 
20 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


if I can dream how to solve the multiplica- 
tion table.” 

“Good night, professor! See that you 
don’t dream about that primary department 
over in Michigan.” 

“By the way, Delbert, how would it ef- 
fect you over there if it should get out why 
you quit studying for the ministry?” 

“Don’t know! Don’t intend to let it 
worry me any, either.” 


21 


CHAPTER II. 


OFF TO THE FIELD OF LABOR 

Like many another man, Delbert Jones 
never knew what it meant to have a vacation. 
Soon after he was thirteen years old, though 
his parents were dead, he started to high 
school. When he was not in school, he was 
at work; when he was not in college, he was 
making money to pay for more education; 
and when he was on the road for the firm, he 
put in full time. Largely out of curiosity, 
he now resolved to have a real vacation — to 
roam for two months or more over the fruit 
belt of Michigan, to ply the oars in her beau- 
tiful lakes, and to angle in her famous 
streams. And that summer he was more 
than satisfied. 

On Friday afternoon, August twenty- 
seventh, at an unusual hour for Lesterville 
22 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


passengers, Delbert Jones stepped off the 
train at Wheaton, and quickly ’phoned for 
a rig to take him to his new field of labor. 
Presently the liveryman’s right-hand man 
appeared, a man whose language betrayed 
a weak will and a character to correspond. 

In this manner Dick Rooney approached 
Delbert Jones: 

“Be you the gentleman that’s goin’ to 
Lesterville?” 

“I’m the man, sir!” 

“Well, jus’ jump right in an’ I’ll deliver 
you there in a mighty few minutes. This 
here nag’s a hard looker an’ he’s blind, but 
he knows how t’ pick up his feet.” 

“Don’t understand you. Can’t see how he 
can be a hard looker when he’s blind.” 

“Well, now! Where did you come from? 
That’s the way we hosslers over here talk 
when we want to ’pologise for a bony sort o’ 
critter.” 

“O, I see!” 


23 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Knowed you wouldn’t be blind long 
’I'ound me. Say, pard, have you got any- 
thing in your hip pocket?” 

“Bottle of peppermint oil I was using up 
north to keep the mosquitos off when I went 
a-fishing.” 

“Lordy, if that’s all you’ve got you kin 
keep it. There’s somethin’ worse than skee- 
ters a knawin’ at the inside of my stumick.” 

“Say, Mr. Liveryman, what kind of a toAvn 
is Lesterville?” inquired Delbert after they 
had been on the road for probably twenty 
minutes. 

“Well, sir, thar’ sets th’ town on the hill. 
You can see fer yourself in a few minutes. 
But t’ answer your question from the stan’ 
pint of a common plain citizen like myself, 
whose system requires a little bracin’ up once 
in a while, it’s a mighty poor place. From 
the stall’ pint of religion, it’s a mighty poor 
place, too, for the preachers make it impos- 
sible fer a feller to git a drop of the great 
24 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


staple of life. An’ from a bizniz stan’ pint, 
it’s onbizniz-like. The dum store keepers 
don’t sell no fluid ’cept kersine oil an’ vine- 
gar, ’cept mebby its to the chosen few whose 
got the proper signs an’ passwords.” 

“How is it from an educational stand- 
point, Mr. Rooney?” 

“Over edgecated — too much edgecation. 
That’s the hull secret of it. A little learnin’ 
is a dangerous thing, an’ too much is sure 
ruin. 

“The man that’s been a teachin’ over here 
in Lesterville taught up all he knew an’ 
somethin’ besides, but he’s gone now. But 
a travelin’ man told me the other day that 
the new teacher that’s been hired went to 
school fer a year where they make preach- 
ers. Said he used to know him. Ef that’s 
so he’ll have t’ walk back an’ to from the 
train every time. I’ll be hanged if I’ll carry 
a preacher ur even part of a preacher! 

“Well, now, pard, here’s the hotel. Have 
25 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


you got any sample cases that you want 
brought over when the stage goes to meet 
the ‘eight o’clock’ after while?” 

“No, but you may take this check and 
bring my private trunk. I’m going to stay 
here for a while.” 

“I see. You’re jus’ a visitin’!” 

“No, I’m going to w'ork here.” 

“Don’t look like a farm hand, I vow.” 

“No, I’m going to teach in the grammar 
department of the school here.” 

“Well — er — ah — Lordy! Didn’t know 

who you wuz!” 

“No. We never met before,” said Del- 
bert. “Goodbye!” 

As Dick Rooney was crossing the street 
he was heard to mutter to himself : 

“I’ve gone an’ dun it now, hain’t I ? What 
if he tells the merchants an’ the parsons, an’ 
takes things to himself that I said! Wonder 
how it’ll ’feet Dick Rooney’s job! It’s allays 
easier to tell things than to on-tell ’em!” 

26 


CHAPTER III. 

FIRST DAY IN THE VILLAGE 

After a good night’s sleep in the village 
hotel, Delbert Jones rose to an early break- 
fast. He then proceeded to look the tovoi 
over, which, for one year at least, was to be 
his home. The air was pure and sweet and 
balmy, such as makes one feel the sudden de- 
parture of all one’s cares. Delbert went to 
the south end of the village and then to the 
north, drinking in the freshness and beauty 
of Lesterville. Such restful homes as were 
those of the retired farmers. Such broad, 
well-kept lawns; yes, broad and easy and 
devoid of that cramped effect which one al- 
ways feels in a large city. And such shade 
trees, too, as lined the streets — trees that 
rarely lift their huge arms to the sky in a 
metropolis like Chicago. ISIuch in contrast 
27 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


was Delbert Jones’ concept of Lesterville to 
that of Dick Rooney, whose estimate of 
everything was always in terms of the wreck- 
age of his own life. 

Out of respect to the director of the school, 
with whom he had corresponded during the 
vacation, Delbert Jones called first on that 
individual whose income from office seems at 
times to be only the kicks and ingratitude of 
those who elevated him to the place. The 
bell rang. Foot-steps were soon heard in 
the hall, and the front door began to swing. 

“Is this Mr. Bain?” 

“That is my name, sir.” 

“Mr. Bain, I am Mr. Jones.” 

“Ah, yes, the school teacher. I am pleased 
to meet you, Mr. Jones, and surprised as 
well. Didn’t expect to see you till this eve- 
ning. Come right in!” 

After a short visit of a social and business 
nature, the two men started for the stores, 
where the director introduced the new teacher 
28 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


to all the merchants of the village, the doctor, 
dentist, post master, justice of the peace, 
blacksmith, and editor of the local paper, 
together with such other citizens as chanced 
to he on the street that Saturday forenoon. 

“I thank you, Mr. Bain,” said Delbert to 
the director, “for your kindness in introduc- 
ing me to the people of Lesterville. Tell me 
now, please, where I had best inquire regard- 
ing board and rooms.” 

“Well, sir, there are probably only two 
places where you can find the accommoda- 
tions you will want. I will leave you alone 
to look after that matter. Inquire two blocks 
north of here for the home of Silas Jerry, or 
the home of William Buff. They are across 
the street from each other, and either family 
will be pleased to receive you.” 

jMr. Jones was not long at engaging a 
place for one week at Buff’s. Mrs. Buff was 
at first a little disappointed at securing the 
new teacher for so short a time, hut soon mis- 
29 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


trusted that it was JNIr. Jones’ plan not to be 
in haste to decide where he should locate 
permanently. Confidence in her ability to 
please the teacher, however, set her mind at 
ease, for Mandy Buff knew well of her skill 
in the culinary art, and that her rooms, 
though plainly furnished, were as pleasant 
as the village afforded. Knowledge that one 
is prepared to do a useful work in life, and 
an opportunity to try, is all an honest per- 
son should ask. 

Promising Mrs. Buff that he would be at 
her place for dinner, Delbert Jones returned 
to one of the stores where he had seen a tele- 
phone booth. Stepping in, he called : 

“Central, does Miss Maytie Ray, the 
primary teacher, have a ’phone?” 

“She has. Shall I give you her number?” 

“If you please.” 

“Hello! Is this the home of Miss Ray? 
Is she in? Ah, yes! Miss Ray, I am Mr. 
Jones.” 


30 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


“The Mr. Jones who is to teach in our 
grammar department next year?” 

“Yes, Miss Ray. Pardon me for intro- 
ducing myself in this manner. I simply 
wanted to ask the favor of a short talk with 
you at your earliest convenience. I know it 
is asking a great deal of you at this busy 
time, but I am altogether in the dark in 
regard to some important things about the 
school.” 

“I have just finished planning a little work 
for my own grades, Mr. Jones. If you are 
ready you may come over now, and I shall 
be delighted to furnish you with whatever 
information I can.” 

“Thank you. Miss Ray, I’ll be right over.” 

Rising from the stool in the booth, Delbert 
Jones was soon off for the home of the widow 
Ray, who lives in a commodious house just 
around the corner on the next street. Now, 
Mrs. Ray has four married sons on large 
farms near Lesterville, with any one of whom 
31 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


she might live and be very welcome, but she 
chooses rather to reside in town, keeping 
house for herself and only daughter, ISIiss 
Maytie, who for five years has been teaching 
in the village school. 

JNIr. Jones received a cordial welcome from 
both Miss Ray and her excellent mother. 
JMatters of interest only to teachers who have 
related work before them were superficially 
gone over, and Mr. Jones then started on his 
w^ay to Mandy Buff’s, as it was nearing the 
dinner hour. 

jNIrs. Buff met the new teacher at the door 
vdth a smile and cordiality which made him 
feel at home from the first: 

“Dinner will be ready in about ten min- 
utes, Mr. Jones. If you care to, you might 
step right up stairs to the front rooms, which 
are to be yours. They are in readiness, and 
Dick Rooney placed your trunk in the hall- 
way.” 


32 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Just what I’ll do, thank you, Mrs. Buff ; 
and I’ll be ready at your call.” 

Now, Mandy knew better than to overdo 
the first meal and then to gradually reduce 
rations, as a less experienced housewife might 
be tempted to do; but her dinner was sub- 
stantial and attractive and all that any one 
in good health and with a reasonable appetite 
could ask for. Mandy, her easy-going hus- 
band, and Delbert Jones, together with old 
Tom, the cat, would constitute the entire 
family. 

When the meal was over, Mrs. Buff in- 
sisted that Mr. Jones make himself “right at 
home.” He accordingly stepped into the 
sitting room and took an easy rocker near 
the window. Mrs. Buff followed a moment 
later with the Friday issue of the local paper. 

“Thought you might like to see our village 
paper, Mr. Jones. Here is a nice article on 
the front page which I want you to read.” 

After thanking Mrs. Buff for her kind- 
33 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


ness, Delbert proceeded with the flattering 
little article about himself. How interesting 
it is to see ourselves as other see us ; or some- 
times, as in this case, as others hear about and 
imagine us. O, if every week of school with 
the new teacher could only be as interesting 
as the week before it begins! 

As Delbert Jones had never lived in a vil- 
lage, he was not aware that in a small place 
everybody, however lowly his station, is after 
all an important factor in the community. 
He was accordingly much interested in read- 
ing the short article about himself, and 
afterward a column which began in this wise : 

PERSONAL 

“Dolly Anderson is on the sick list. 

“Frank Armsby is painting his house. 

“Pete Hanson’s bays look mighty fine in 
their new harness. 

“Sally Lane, who has been suffering from 
an attack of mumps, is improving. 

34 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“The familiar face of Uncle Tom Parker 
is again to be seen on our streets. 

“Will Himgerford fell from a load of hay 
the other day and dislocated his shoulder. 

“Old Dan, the blacksmith’s dog, who has 
been failing for the past year, had to be shot. 
Everybody will miss old Dan. 

“Some one visited Bob Robert’s hen roost, 
Thursday night. The barking of the dog, 
however, scared out the would-be thief. 
That individual may have his hat by calling 
at this office. It is a familiar one.” 

^ ^ * 

Presently Mrs. Buff put in her appear- 
ance with innocent William not far behind. 
With plaintive sigh she began: 

“Well, Mr. Jones, I suppose you have al- 
ready discovered that this isn’t Chicago. 
You will come to realize the fact more and 
more as you live here. You will miss the 
life and hustle which you are used to. You 
will miss the the-ate-ers too, and the musi- 
35 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


cals, and the nice parks, and the big stores 
where you can buy anything you want.” 

Not to find fault with his own city, but to 
reprove Mrs. Buff, who had ideal surround- 
ings which she did not appreciate, Delbert 
replied : 

“Yes, and I’ll miss the noisy street cars, 
too, that run all night; and the smoky air; 
and the warm water that we have to drink 
from underground pipes; and the smell of 
packing houses ; and such like.” 

“O, yes,” sighed Mandy, “but then! It 
isn’t anything here like it was down where 
we came from. I do wish we could get away. 
I’m so sick of the place. It just seems that 
it’s too warm or too cold aU the time, or too 
wet or too dry, or something else. But Wil- 
liam will stick here, says he’s too poor to 
get away.” 

Then she continued: 

“I’ll tell you somethiaig else you won’t 
miss, either, Mr. Jones. That’s mean people. 

36 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


I believe there are some of the worst people 
here I ever saw. There’s Tim Brown next 
door north. Every time Tim goes to Green- 
burg he gets drunk and eomes home and 
raises Cain with everybody. His wife’s got 
a blaek eye now that he gave her a few days 
ago. And there’s Hank Smith and Bill 
Farthington and Dode Williams and old 
George Rule, a lower down set can’t be 
found anywhere ! Can they William ?” 

“You’re telling it, Mandy.” 

“By the way, William, some one’s been 
trying to steal chickens from Bob Roberts. 
Bet I can guess who it was, too. The fellow 
lost his hat in the escapade. It’s down at the 
Republican office now. I want you to go 
down and see who it belongs to. Can’t you 
go now, William?” 

“Not just yet. I’ve got to have a smoke.” 

“Well, Mrs. Buff,” said Delbert, “I’ve 
really fallen in love with Lesterville, my- 
self. The pure air and sunlight, the beauti- 
37 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


ful homes and lawns and shade trees, and the 
clear cool fresh water that comes from these 
deep wells! My, these things appeal to me! 
Then you have your vegetables fresh from 
your own garden, pure milk and butter from 
your own cow, fresh eggs all you can use, 
and no rent to pay. Really, JNIrs. Buff, I’m 
in love with the place. By the way, Mrs. 
JBuff, who are some of your good people?” 

“Well, there ain’t hardly any nice people 
'at this end of town. There’s Mrs. Lucas 
.at the south end, she’s quite a nice lady.” 

“Who else?” 

"“Mr. and Mrs, Charles Stocum, across 
from Mrs. Lucas, they’re nice too, they say.” 

After a prolonged silence Delbert asked: 

“Are these all the good people you have?” 

“O, no!” 

“Well, Mrs. Buff, I’ve been here only a 
half a day you might say, and I’ve met prob- 
ably twenty people, and they seem so very 


38 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


cordial! There faces and actions, too, show 
every mark of virtue and kindness!” 

“Yes, they’ll almost eat you up for a 
while; but, mind what I say, Mr. Jones, you 
won’t be here three months before they can’t 
say enough mean things about you. It’s the 
awfulest place you ever saw for grumblers 
and gossipers!” 

“Bad thing, Mrs. Buff, bad thing! This 
tale-bearing reminds me of a lot of dogs 
carrying a bone about. One dog gets it, 
carries it for a while and drops it down. An- 
other takes it up and carries it for a while 
and drops it for some other dog, and so on. 
The more it is carried about, the filthier it 
becomes. 

“Well, believe I’ll go down and look the 
school house over — see the library, and the 
apparatus thej^ have for teaching science. 
What is your supper hour, Mrs. Buff?” 

“Six o’clock, Mr. Jones, if that suits you.” 

“Very well! I’ll he ready at that hour.” 

39 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


At this point, Delbert Jones departed, 
leaving Mandy and William to themselves. 

“Mandy, did you get that lesson the new 
teacher was expounding?” 

^‘Expounding!” 

“‘Didn’t comprehend him, eh?” 

“‘ComprehendJ I never comprehended 
anybody in my life. Bill Buff, what’s the 
matter with you? Are you crazy? Or are 
you just practicing on me so you can use 
big words around Mr. Jones?” 

“You didn’t see the point, then.” 

"“No, I didn’t see the point, then!” 

“‘When the pension comes next time, I’m 
going to buy a capacity for your understand- 
ing, Mandy — one big enough to hold a point 
anyway. You couldn’t see that Mr. Jones 
was disgusted with you and was trying to 
teach you a lesson, could you?” 

“What do you mean, William?” 

“I mean just what I say. I mean that all 
the time you was in the settin’ room you was 
40 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


findin’ fault with the weather and with the 
town and with the people. You said it was 
the awfulest place you ever saw for grum- 
bling, and yet you was a grumbling every 
breath. You told him all the things he’d 
miss by living in this little burg; said it 
wasn’t like it w'as down in Ohio where we 
came from; that you hated it because it was 
always too hot or too cold or too w'et or too 
dry. 

“You gossiped, too. Yes, you did. You 
know what you said about Tim Brown and 
Hank Smith and Bill Farthington and Dode 
Williams and old George Rule. Don’t you? 
If that isn’t gossip, I’d like to know what it 
is! And when he got all he could stand of 
it, he said (know what he said Mandy?) he 
said, ‘Mrs. Buff, who are some of your good 
people?’ But you didn’t see the point! 
Then he compared you to a dog carrying a 
dirty bone around, and still you didn’t see 
the point!” 


41 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


“But I see it now, William! I see it now! 
The good Lord deliver us from all our sins. 
If you was so bright, why didn’t you wink 
at me or shake your head or cough a little 
or make a noise in your throat? If it had 
been you. Bill Buff, I’d have gone right out 
in the kitchen and said, ‘William, I want an 
armload of wood right away!’ And I’d a 
gone to the shed with you, and taught you 
some sense.” 

“Yes, Mandy, I could have done that, too, 
but really I sorter wanted to see you get a 
lesson on that subject. You needed it, old 
woman. He’s a pretty decent fellow, 
Mandy! Good teacher. Fine!” 

“William Buff, how’ll I ever face Mr. 
J ones this evening at supper ! How’ll I ever 
doit! I — just — can’t!” 

“Of course, you can, Mandy!” 

“How?” 

“ J ust say : ‘What a fine day it’s been, Mr. 
J ones !’ Tell him what a good cow we’ve got 
42 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


— how much milk she gives ; or about the ber- 
ries you canned last summer from our own 
vines; or how the neighbors came in and 
helped you out when you was sick last 
spring; or what a lot of nice young people 
he’ll have in his school. And ask him to go to 
church with you in the morning. Then he’ll 
think maybe you’re a pretty decent woman 
after all!” 

“ O, W illiam ! You’re a darling old hubby, 
anyway. If you do see Mandy git into 
trouble, you’re always helpin’ her out. Give 
the Devil his due!” 

“My, but that comparison, Mandy! The 
‘Devil!’ Why, it’s worse than the one Mr. 
Jones used about the dogs and the bone. 
But I’ll suffer anything, Mandy, if you’ll 
only stop grumbling about the town and 
finding fault with the neighbors.” 


43 


CHAPTER IV. 

DELBERT WITH HIS CO-WORKER 

It was four o’clock, Monday evening, the 
first day of school — that day long famed as 
the one when teacher studies pupil and pupil 
studies teacher. If the teacher has only mas- 
tered his first lesson as well as those in front 
of him have mastered theirs, he has made a 
good beginning, and his wisdom will have to 
be reckoned with. Nature study and mind 
reading date way back to the time when the 
first pupil went to the first teacher in the 
first school. But, whatever progress was 
made in the study of human nature that day, 
thirty-eight bright youngsters with smiling 
face and satisfied step filed out at four 
o’clock to the time-honored command of the 
“One! two! three!” 

Just in front ctf Delbert Jones, and to his. 

44 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


left, was a door leading to the other depart- 
ment of the school, which was ably managed 
by a teacher who had already had several 
years of successful experience. Delbert, on 
the Saturday before, had been assured by 
Miss Ray that she would be willing to assist 
him to start his work if he had any questions 
to ask. Accordingly, after school was out, 
he repaired to her room to ask about the 
keeping of a daily register. 

“Well, how did the first day of school go, 
Mr. Jones?” 

“Very satisfactorily!” 

“That’s good. You know they say, ‘Well 
begun is half done.’ And how are you going 
to like LesterviUe?” 

“Lesterville is a charming little village. I 
went with Mrs. Buff to the Methodist church 
yesterday morning and heard a good sermon 
and met some very fine people.” 

“Yes, some of my good Methodist friends 
were congratulating themselves Sunday that 
45 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


the new teacher was going to attend their 
church. But when you went to the Baptist 
in the evening, they weren’t so sure about it. 
How did you like our minister, Elder 
Black?” 

“Very well. I met him and several mem- 
bers of the congregation. They seem very 
friendly. I felt right at home.” 

“Brother Henry, the gentleman I was 
with, wanted to meet you ; but it seemed that 
I couldn’t get you together.” 

“Is he a relative of any of the Henry chil- 
dren in my room? I have children from two 
families of that name, I believe.” 

“O, no, he is my brother — my youngest 
brother.” 

“O, I beg pardon. I thought he was only 
a church brother, and that his last name was 
‘Henry.’ ” 

“No, I haven’t any church brothers. I 
am not a member of the church, though I 
do sing in the choir and otherwise take a 
46 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


more or less active part in church work,” 

“Well, guess I’ll return to my own part of 
the mill,” said Delbert. “O, yes, I almost 
forgot what I came for.” 

At this Delbert asked his question and 
received an answer which had the ring of 
good sense. 

“Thank you. Miss Ray,” said Delbert. 
“I like the sound of that suggestion. Why 
didn’t I think of that myself? What are 
you going to charge me for advice the first 
month. Miss Ray, while I am so very green 
at this business?” 

Here was Maytie’s opportunity. The 
temptation was too great. She could not 
let it pass. 

“I might trade some of this kind of knowl- 
edge for some theology, Mr, Jones.” 

Delbert was at first a little surprised ; but, 
with a smile, soon inquired : 

“What do you mean. Miss Ray?” 

47 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Could that proposition have more than 
one meaning, Mr. Jones?” 

“Presume not. What do you know about 
my experience in a theological school, Miss 
Ray?” 

“Only what a traveling man remarked in 
one of the stores this summer. He said he 
knew you when you were studying in a 
theological seminary, that you put in a year 
preparing for the ministry. Some of our 
town’s people have wondered why you did 
not go on and finish your course in theology.” 

“I fear. Miss Ray, that you’d find theology 
rather dry, especially since you are not a 
member of any church,” said Delbert, mak- 
ing no reply to what the town’s people had 
been wondering. 

“Really, I’d like to ask somebody some 
questions, somebody who has made a study 
of religion. Off and on for six years, I’ve 
tried to get something out of Elder Black; 
but I can’t. Last winter, when a revival 
48 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


was on in our church, I asked him to give me 
the title of some good book on the other re- 
ligions of the world. What do you suppose 
he said?” 

“Can’t imagine.” 

“He said, ‘Isn’t the Christian religion good 
enough for you?’ Now, Mr. Jones, what 
if you and I as teachers should never read 
but one authority on education? Could we 
long maintain any standing in the profes- 
sion?” 

“As teachers. Miss Ray, we, are expected 
to read a good many books on the subject in 
order to get a glimpse, at least, of the field 
of learning.” 

“Well, tell me then, Mr. Jones, why min- 
isters never give us discourses, brief ones 
would do, of course, on the other great re- 
ligions of mankind. Is to know other re- 
ligions, to think less of Christianity?” 

“I hardly think so. Miss Ray. I see you 
are of much the same mind I was when I 
49 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


started to the seminary. Accordingly, I se- 
lected the ‘World’s Great Religions’ as one 
of my courses. This enabled me to compare 
the claims of the other great religions witli 
the claims of Christianity.” 

“Say, that would be a delightful subject! 
All I should care for, however, would be a 
bird’s-eye view, as it were, of the foreign 
religions. I don’t care to know much about 
them — just enough to compare fundamental 
principles is all. Then Christianity would 
have a larger meaning for me. Really, I’m 
going to settle upon something more definite, 
if I can, with regard to religion. I’m get- 
ting ashamed of my ignorance of that sub- 
ject, and also of holding myself aloof from 
the church. I believe it the duty of every 
teacher to be identified more vitally with the 
church than I am.” 

“I think you are quite right. Miss Ray, 
as to a teacher’s duty to religion. I think 
you are pursuing, or trying to pursue, the 
50 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


right course, too. And you are one of that 
eommendable kind who is determined not to 
go into anything blindly, not even religion!” 

“What you say is true, Mr. Jones. Now, 
I don’t believe that one ehurch member in a 
hundred knows a picayune about religion as 
a world movement. I don’t see why the minis- 
ters don’t enlighten them — don’t open their 
eyes. The ehurch, as far as I can see, is 
only an asylum for the partially blind, where 
little is done to cure.” 

“I think your figure a very apt one. Miss 
Ray.” 

“Well, Mr. Jones, I will say nothing 
more on this subjeet now, lest I weary you. 
Mother wanted me to ask if you would come 
over after chureh next Sunday and take din- 
ner with us. It is brother Henry’s way to 
get acquainted with you. He’s a great 
friend of sehool teachers. In fact, he mar- 
ried one. You Avill find that Lesterville is 
quite a place for Sunday dinners.” 

51 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“You tell your mother. Miss Ray, that I 
shall be pleased to eome.” 

“Then, after dinner, if you are not in a 
hurry, would it be mean of me to ask a few 
questions about the great religions, Mr. 
Jones ?” 

“Most assuredly not. Miss Ray. And I 
shall be glad to furnish you all the informa- 
tion I can.” 

“You see, Mr. Jones, I gave you some 
valuable help on your daily register, and now 
I want my pay,” jokingly remarked May tie. 


5 '^ 


CHAPTER V. 


IN THE HOME OF THE RAYS 

It was a busy week with Delbert Jones, 
with his school work on hand, which he 
would never allow to suffer, and his review 
of the world’s great religions, which he de- 
sired to have fresh in mind for use the next 
Sunday. 

Somewhat out of respect to the people 
wdth whom he was to take dinner that day, 
Delbert attended morning services at the 
Baptist church. The usual spell came over 
him as he entered the door of the sanctuary. 
That sweet music which conducts the wor- 
shiper to his pew told him one of the great- 
est truths of religion. It had always been 
that way. Delbert could always believe the 
organ, and he could always believe the 
53 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


preacher so long as he kept in tune. But 
when the preacher got out of tune Avith the 
organ, he got out of tune with Delbert, 
though nothing was ever said. 

After services, Mr. Jones was introduced 
to Henry Ray; and together they walked 
to the home of Henry’s mother, the women 
folloAving a few moments later. The two 
men were together most of the time till din- 
ner. Delbert soon came to have much re- 
spect for Henry’s knowledge of the farm, 
and Henry was not long in finding out that 
Delbert knew something about many things 
beside books. 

Dinner, which had largely been prepared 
the day before, was soon ready. Little 
pleasantries were indulged in at the table; 
and, after the meal, the men repaired to the 
commodious sitting room to continue their 
visit, while the women looked after affairs 
at the business end of the house. In due 
time the three ladies came in, making a ma- 
54 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


jority in favor of the fair sex, and lending 
that air to the situation which is always es- 
sential to real company. But Henry soon 
became mindful of his stock on the farm. 
He and his wife accordingly soon took their 
departure; not, however, till an urgent in- 
vitation had been extended to Delbert to 
come to the farm some Friday night and 
stay over Sunday. 

Now, Delbert Jones felt the influence of 
both a mother and a sister when he was left 
alone in the widow’s house with Delvina Ray 
and her beautiful daughter; and no rule of 
polite society would require Delbert to take 
his departure just because Henry had. In 
fact, Maytie had asked Delbert to explain 
something to her about the great religions, 
and he had promised. 

At the first lull in conversation, the mother 
said: 

“Can’t you children play and sing some?” 
“You children!” That made Delbert feel 
55 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


the mother influence all the more. Delvina 
Ray had asked that very same question in 
that very same way probably a hundred 
times before. Maytie knew all her mother’s 
old favorite hymns, and accordingly asked 
Delbert to help her sing, “No Book Is Like 
the Bible”; also “Refuge”; then, “Where Is 
My Wandering Boy To-night.” Like so 
many good souls, nothing but hymn tunes 
would do for Delvina Ray on Sunday. Too 
bad there aren’t more like her! 

These were all two-part songs, written for 
soprano and tenor voices, and both the 
young people were in proper tune that after- 
noon. The mother declared she had never 
heard such singing before in all her life. In- 
deed, their voices did balance and blend to 
perfection — they did certainly go together 
well that day on those particidar hymns, 
and Delbert and Maytie were truly in the 
singing mood. And I wonder why ! 

With Delbert it was easy to explain. For 
56 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


more than two months he had been roam- 
ing around over rugged parts of Michigan, 
in stern environment all the while, and away 
from home influence and the fascinating 
wiles of the gentle sex. “Home” — what a 
spell it casts over a man when he has been 
away from its hallowed precincts for a while! 
And “woman” — well somehow she seems 
necessary. 

After the singing of those good old “hymn 
tunes” for Mrs. Kay, the daughter re- 
marked : 

“Are you ready now, Mr. Jones, to tell 
me something about that course you had in 
the seminary?” 

“Mr. Jones, if you can settle some of that 
girl’s troubles, I would he a thousand times 
obliged to you. Here she is twenty-four 
years old and without Christ. Really, I lose 
sleep over her.” 

“I wanted Mr. Jones to tell me some- 
57 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


thing about the other great religions, 
mother.” 

“Maytie Ray, Mr, Jones will think your 
mother doesn’t know anything, and I’ve been 
a Baptist nigh onto fifty years. Haven’t I 
told you time and again, child, that there are 
no other great religions? Every nation in 
the world is either a Christian nation or a 
heathen nation! Am I not right, Mr. Jones? 
Our ministers all tell us so.” 

“According to the dictionary, Mrs. Ray, 
you are quite right. But the word ‘heathen’ 
in that sense means simply ‘non-Christian.’ 
Of course, any nation is either Christian or 
non- Christian.” 

Then Maytie put in her question : 

“How many religions are there in the 
world, Mr. Jones?” 

“Many, many! I don’t know how many. 
But we recognize seven great world religions, 
including our own,” 

Then the mother had an idea: 

58 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“But six of those religions could all be 
bunched together and labeled ‘heathen,’ leav- 
ing only the one real religion, Christianity, 
could they not, Mr. Jones?” said the old 
lady. 

“Not in the sense you mean, Mrs. Ray.” 

“Well, do tell the child all you can about 
them. Christianity, which has served mother 
so well these fifty years, isn’t good enough 
for my Maytie. She’s looking for something 
better.” 

“Not necessarily, mother. Say, mother, 
do you remember I showed you a picture 
the other day — a picture of a tree drawn by 
one of my pupils?” 

“Yes.” 

“And do you remember you said you 
didn’t like it because it was by itself, that it 
would look better if there were others about 
it to show it off, that it looked lonely?” 

“Yes, dear, I remember. But what of it?” 

“Well, Christianity to me is like that tree, 
59 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


mother. It needs to have the other religions 
grouped about it to show it off, to show its 
relative importance.” 

“You see, Mr. Jones, Maytie has more 
education than her mother has, and it takes 
more to satisfy her mind.” 

“You are not sorry, are you, Mrs. Ray?” 

“O, no! I believe in education!” 

“You see, Mrs. Ray, your daughter has 
a very inquiring mind.” 

“Yes, and a pint of water won’t fill a gal- 
lon jar, either,” said the mother proudly. 
“I know Mayiie’s smart — she’s just like her 
father was.” 

“Let’s have Mr. Jones go on and tell us 
about the other great religions, mother.” 

“Certainly, dear! Let him go on! Now, 
you young folks please excuse me. I’ll drop 
in often enough to keep run of the story and 
help you out what I can. You see, mother 
hasn’t gone to the Baptist church nigh onto 
60 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


fifty years without learning all about the 
heathen!” 

Delbert might have inferred, from the 
fact that Mrs. Ray left the room, that she 
was unfriendly to his topic, in which case he 
would not have taken up its discussion in 
her home — even though he had at a previous 
time consented. But the fact that she had 
said, “I’ll drop in often enough to keep run 
of the story and help you out what I can” 
was assurance that he was very welcome to 
tell Maytie the things she wanted to know. 
Evidently Mrs. Ray thought she had heard 
all there was to be heard about the “heathen,” 
and than she would be lending dignity to 
her position by assuming a degree of that 
I-have-heard-it-all air. Then, too, it was 
her daughter’s part of the program. Let 
her take her lesson. 

“It seems like imposition to ask you to go 
over what you have gone over time and 
61 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


again, Mr. Jones,” said Maytie. “I shall 
tire you, I fear.” 

“Religion, Miss Ray, is the grandest theme 
for contemplation by the human mind. I 
never tire of it. Do you wish me to tell 
you about the crude conceptions of the an- 
cient barbarians, and the practices growing 
out of their superstition?” 

“The briefer mention of them the better, 
Mr. Jones.” 

“It is a well-known fact. Miss Ray, that 
primitive men regarded with awe everything 
in nature which had power to harm them. 
The light of the sun, the consuming fire of 
the forest, thunder, lightning, storm, earth- 
quake, and the like, filled them with fear. 
They associated angry gods with these phe- 
nomena.” 

“They probably exercised much care, then, 
Mr. Jones, lest they arouse the displeasure 
of these terrible beings.” 

“They probably did. Miss Ray, and in 
62 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


times of real danger they strove to appease 
the wrath of these gods through a variety 
of sacrifices, sometimes even offering human 
beings.” 

“How do you like that, Maytie?” asked 
the mother who had just returned to the 
room. 

“This looks little like religion, mother, 
but probably marks its beginning.” 

“I shall not attempt to tell you, either, 
about those religions which were only tran- 
sient or which attracted only a small follow- 
ing, unless you request it.* 

“Tell ’er all about ’em, Mr. Jones. Give 
’er her fill while you’re at it. If Maytie 
wants to be a heathen, let her know what 
they’re like.” The young people could 
scarcely refrain from smiling at the mother’s 
remark. 

“But,” continued Delbert, “alongside 
these crude beginnings, great religions rose 
up which were destined to live and to shape 
63 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


in large measure the lives of millions of 
souls.” 

“How many of the seven great world re- 
ligions were introduced before Christ, Mr. 
Jones?” 

“Five — Brahmanism, Judaism, Zoroas- 
trianism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, in 
the order named. Then came Christianity, 
followed in the fifth century by Moham- 
medanism.” 

“But, Mr. Jones,” spoke up the mother, 
“is it really proper to call any of these a gen- 
uine religion except Christianity? Did not 
our blessed Savior give the world the only 
religion?” 

“They all go by that name, Mrs. Ray,” 
replied Delbert in a manner to assume no 
responsibility for the term, for he desired to 
get into no controversy with Mrs. Ray, at 
this time especially. 


64 


CHAPTER VI. 


DOWN THE DISTANT AGES 

“The first question I would ask, Mr. 
Jones, is this: 

“What do the different great religions 
outside Judaism and Christianity have to say 
about God? Of course, we are acquainted 
with those two.” 

» » 

“Barring what the ignorant say, the edu- 
cated classes among the Brahmins believe 
in one God, whom they regard as the One 
First Cause. This being they call Varuna, 
and in their sacred writings they speak of 
him as omnipresent. Listen to these words 
from their Bible: 

“ Tf a man stands or walks or hides, if 
he goes to lie down or get up, — King 
65 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


Varuna knows it, for he is there. This earth, 
too, belongs to Varuna, the King, and this 
wide sky. He who should flee far beyond 
this sky would not there escape from Var- 
una.’ ” 

“Beautiful! Isn’t it, Mr. Jones? Why, 
it sounds so much like our own Bible!” 

“Yes, Maytie dear, but only think of call- 
ing our good God by that ugly name, 
‘Varuna!’ ” 

“There’s nothing in a name, mother. It’s 
all in the idea.” 

“Zoroastrianism teaches,” continued Del- 
bert, “that through all eternity there have 
been two great spirits in the world — Ormazd, 
the good spirit ; and Ahriman, the evil spirit. 
According to this religion, people should 
banish from their minds and hearts all evil 
thoughts, and become co-workers with 
Ormazd in overthrowing evil.” 

“Maytie, I believe that Zoroaster just 
stole most of that idea from Christ.” 

66 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


“Yes, mother, but Christ was not born 
until a thousand years after Zoroaster.” 

“I see that theory wouldn’t do. May tie. 
But I thought the followers of Zoroaster 
were heathens.” 

“They were, mother, but ‘heathen’ only 
means non-Christian, Mr. Jones has told us.” 

“Now, Confueianism, Miss Ray, which 
follows Zoroastrianism, but which precedes 
Christianity by five centuries, was founded 
on the teachings of Confucius, a noted Chin- 
ese philosopher. Confucius was certainly 
one of the finest and noblest of heathen 
teachers, but made no pretentions of having 
superior knowledge of the Creator. For 
five thousand years, however, the Chinese 
people have believed in Ti, an infinite God. 

“The fifth of the important world reli- 
gions in time, but the first in number of ad- 
herents, is Buddhism. Its promoter w'as 
one Buddha, a native of India. In its origi- 
nal statement. Buddhism is without a deity. 

67 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


In some lands, however, this religion has 
conie to take on the God principle in a low 
form. In China the Buddhists are poly- 
theistic, that is, they believe in many gods. 

“Passing over Christianity, Miss Ray, 
our own religion, we come to Mohamme- 
danism, which is the seventh and last of 
the great world religions. In any large city 
library you can find scores of books treating 
exhaustively all these world creeds.” 

“Life is too short, Mr. Jones, to go so far 
into them. All I care for is to see them 
paralleled on the vital points. I am now 
getting just what I have desired for years. 
But what does Mohammedanism teach with 
regard to a supreme being?” 

“Mohammedanism teaches there is a 
deity, their ‘Allah.’ We take the following 
two quotations from their sacred writings: 

‘Say, He is God, Our God, 

God the eternal. 

He begetteth not nor is begotten, 

68 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


And there is none equal unto Him,’ 

‘Verily your Lord is God, who created 
the heavens and the earth in six days : Then 
he ascended the throne. He causeth the 
night to cover the day; it foUoweth it 
swiftly; and He created the sun and the 
moon and the stars, made subject utterly to 
His command. Do not the whole creation 
and command belong to Him? Blessed be 
God, the Lord of these Worlds.’ 

“Now, children,” remarked Maytie’s 
mother, “that statement about the world 
being created in six days was surely taken 
out of our Bible.” 

“That’s possible, mother,” replied Maytie, 
“for Mohammedanism sprang up as a reli- 
gion several centures after Christianity.” 

“What do you think about God yourself, 
Mr. Jones?” inquired Miss Maytie. 

“Really, I don’t think God at all. Miss 
Ray. I just go alone to the top of a high 
hill or a high building and look down upon 
69 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


the panorama below and up to the great blue 
sky above. Then I just sense a ‘something’ 
in the vastness which makes me reverent. I 
just feel a satisfying presence.” 

“The all-comforting thing about this 
whole matter, IVIr. Jones, is the fact of the 
universal belief in a Supreme Being, let 
him be where he will and what he may.” 

* * * 

“Tell me next, Mr. Jones, what these 
same great world religions teach with re- 
;gard to the immortality of the soul.” 

“Brahmanism teaches that, after the death 
of the body, the souls of the pure return to 
3rahma whence they came, but that the 
:great majority, not possessing the right de- 
gree of purity, must be born again and 
again into a higher and yet higher caste of 
society until they are finally fit for reabsorp- 
tion into Brahma.” 

“What becomes of the bad people, Mr. 
Jones?” 


70 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“The soul of the evil man. Miss Ray, is 
born into a lower caste of society, or may 
enter an unclean animal.” 

“Queer belief, isn’t it?” asked Maytie. 

“This part of their doctrine is commonly 
referred to. Miss Ray, as the transmigration 
of souls.” 

“Think, Maytie,” said her mother, “of 
one’s soul passing into an unclean animal at 
death. How awful!” 

“But, mother, I should try to live so that 
my soul would return to Brahma.” 

“Yes, dear, but suppose you should make 
too many mistakes in life!” 

“Well, mother, I don’t know that it would 
be any worse for one’s soul to pass into an 
unclean animal than to go to the torments 
of Hell forever. Would it?” 

“What does Zoroastrianism teach on this 
point, Mr. Jones?” 

“Zoroastrianism teaches that the souls of 
men at death have a journey to make over 
71 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


a narrow bridge, Miss Ray. Good souls 
make the journey in safety and come into 
the presence of Orniazd to remain with him 
in glory: while evil souls are sure to fall 
from the narrow way into a pit of woe, there 
to remain with Ahriman in misery. What 
do you think of this part of their religion. 
Miss Ray?” 

“I can’t see that this is materially differ- 
•ent from the Heaven and Hell of Christian- 
ity. 

“What do the Chinese people teach, Mr. 
Jones, with regard to immortality?” 

^‘Confucianism is only a system of morals; 
and so cannot be taken into account on this 
point. 

“Buddhism, however,” continued Delbert, 
“teaches the doctrine of transmigration of 
souls, which is evidently borrowed from the 
Brahmans. Nirvana, the highest aspira- 
tion of the soul, is attained only after it 
has passed through a long series of wander- 
72 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


ings, coming up through higher and higher 
forms of animal life. The souls of the bad, 
however, descend into loAver forms. 

“Mohammedanism teaehes that, after 
death and the final judgment of souls, all 
must pass over a bridge narrower than the 
width of a hair. The virtuous are successful 
in the journey and reach Heaven, a place of 
surcease of all pain, and for the fullest grat- 
ification of the senses. But the wicked are 
unsuccessful in making the passage and 
plunge below into Hell.” 

“Personally, Mr. Jones,” inquired Maytie, 
“what do you think of the immortality claim 
■of these world religions?” 

“And why do you ask. Miss Ray? Do 
you sometimes doubt that the soul lives after 
death?” 

“Yes, I sometimes wonder if immortality 
isn’t, after all, just a beautiful dream.” 

“To me. Miss Ray, the spirit is just as 
73 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


real as the body; and immortality, just as 
real as life.” 

“What is the soul, anyway, Mr. Jones, 
that it cannot die?” 

“The soul. Miss Ray, is that within which 
smells the rose; it is that within which sees 
the beautiful hillside covered with flowers; 
it is that within which hears sweet music.” 

“O, you’re talking about ,the olfactory 
nerve, and the optic nerve, and the auditory 
nerve, Mr. Jones, and the brain!” 

“Can the nerves and the brain be pleased. 
Miss Ray — entertained, delighted?” asked 
Delbert. ^There is no satisfaction, no pleas- 
ure, you must remember, until after these 
brain records are taken into and acted upon 
by the soul. I fear. Miss Ray, that many 
people think of the soul as a sort of airy 
nothing, when in fact it is the real man.” 

“If I understand you, then, Mr. Jones, 
the body is a sort of connecting link, as it 
74 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


were, between the external physical world 
and the spirit, or real man.” 

“You have expressed it well. Miss Ray. 
And that Supreme Wisdom and Power 
which we call ‘God’ understood full well 
that man, the crowning glory of His crea- 
tion, would be a miserable failure if later he 
learned that his destiny was to be a dark 
hole under the sod. Accordingly, that In- 
finite Wisdom gave to man an immortal 
soul and a sure faith in the future life.” 

“But, Mr. Jones, if our mind or spirit is 
so dependent for its thinking upon the im- 
ages stored away in the gray matter of the 
brain, what shall we do in the spirit world 
with the brain back on earth and gone to 
dust?” 

“Miss Ray, you are like the people who 
think of God as a being with head and body, 
hands and feet. You want to carry outlines 
of physical beings into the spirit world, and 
there find spirits which shall answer to these 
75 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


outlines or images. But, as it is a spiritual 
way we should discern what we call ‘God’, 
so shall it he a spiritual way we shall dis- 
cern our friends. Just you think this over 
and over, and you’ll understand. We must 
have our physical brain in this physical 
world ; but we shall not need it in the spirit- 
ual, nay we could not use it!” 

“But, shall we know our friends over 
there, Mr. Jones?” 

“Personally, I am thoroughly convinced 
that we shall. Miss Ray, but not as we 
know them here, with physical form and 
pink cheeks; but with the same spiritual 
personality by which w'e know them here. 
Yes, Miss Ray, we shall know each other 
better there than we do here. Here we 
meet face to face, and often misunderstand 
each other : there we shall meet soul to soul.” 

Mother Ray had returned again from an- 
other room in time to hear Mr. Jones’ last 
statements. She was delighted to know that 
76 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


her daughter was hearing that Sunday 
afternoon sueh earnest expressions of faith 
in God and immortality. 


77 


CHAPTER VII. 

ENEMIES OF CIVILIZATION 

“It seems to me, Mr. Jones, that the logi- 
cal thing after a discussion of God and im- 
mortality would be the discussion of right- 
eous living. I should like to know for what 

kind of life these same great religions stand.” 
* * * 

“Probably nothing about Brahmanism,” 
replied Delbert, “shows the attitude of its 
devotees to the question of righteousness 
better than do their prayers. Here is a por- 
tion of one of them: 

‘Whenever we men, O Varuna, commit 
an offense against the heavenly host, when- 
ever we break the law through thoughtless- 
ness, punish us not, O Varuna, for our 
offense.’ 

“In another prayer the Brahman says: 

78 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


‘O free us from the sins of our fathers, 
and from those which we have committed 
with our own bodies.’ ” 

“Aren’t those beautiful prayers? What 
do you think of them mother? Aren’t they 
fine?” 

“Mr. Jones,” said the mother, “I want to 
ask you a question.” 

“All right, Mrs. Ray.” 

“Where did those prayers come from?” 

“From the sacred writings of Brahman- 
ism, Mrs. Ray.” 

“Well, I’m dumbfounded — I’m thunder- 
struck, Mr. Jones! Why, I thought the 
Hindoo people were heathens!” 

“They are, Mrs. Ray, that is, they are 
non-Christian, and that is all the word means 
in such a connection. 

“Now, the Zoroastrian Bible, the ‘Avesta’, 
teaches that : 

‘The will of the Lord is the Law of holi- 
ness.’ 


79 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


‘Holiness is the best of all good.’ 

‘The one recital of the praise of holiness 
which is worth all that is between the earth 
and the heavens is that one which a man 
uttereth when he would renounce evil 
thoughts, evil words, and evil deeds.’ 

‘May we, O Lord, attain to union with thy 
purity for all eternity.’ ” 

“These are beautiful thoughts, Mr. Jones. 
Aren't they mother?” 

“Mother is a Christian, ISIaytie, but she is 
finding out that Christianity hasn’t a mo- 
nopoly of all the good things of religion.” 

“Of course, I would not argue for one 
minute,” said Delbert, “that Zoroastrianism 
rises to the same high religious level that 
Christianity does. Some features of it, how- 
ever, are truly charming. 

“But,” resumed Delbert, “we shall see 
that Confucianism, which is the next great 
religion in order of time, has its surprises 
too.” 


80 



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AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Ah, now, mother, now the Chinaman. 
Now the yellow fellow with the almond 
eyes,” exclaimed Maytie in a charming girl- 
ish manner. 

“Is it possible,” inquired the mother, “to 
say anything good about those awful people 
who used to bind up their babies’ feet so 
tight they couldn’t grow?” 

“Of course, Mrs. Ray, that was a terrible 
thing, but let me tell you some of the things 
Confucius taught his people with regard to 
conduct. Let me begin with the Golden 
Rule, which is found in negative form in one 
of their writings: 

‘What you do not want done to yourself 
do not do to others.’ ” 

“Goodness’ sake, mother! What do you 
think of that? Why, it embodies the exact 
thought of our own Golden Rule!” 

Then Delbert resumed : 

“ ‘Filial piety is the beginning of virtue, 
and brotherlj^ love is the sequel of virtue.’ 

81 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Then, 

‘Happy union with wife and children is 
like the music of lutes and harps. And when 
there is concord among brethren the har- 
mony is delightful and enduring.’ 

“Then again we read that, 

‘No virtue is higher than love to all men, 
and there is no loftier aim in government 
than to profit all men.’ 

“Then we find these words: 

‘In the Book of Poetry are three hundred 
pieces, but the design of them all may be 
embraced in that one sentence, “Have no 
depraved thoughts.” ’ 

“The quotation,” said Maytie, “about 
concord among brethren, and the one about 
love, and the one about having no depraved 
thoughts are beautiful gems and worthy of 
a place in any Bible. Think so, mother?” 

“They are very beautiful, Maytie dear.” 

“The adherents of Buddhism, Miss Ray, 
who comprise about one-third of the popula- 
tion of the globe, are also taught many beau- 
82 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


tiful things in their sacred writings. Listen 
to this from their Tripitaka: 

‘Not in the void of heaven, not in the 
depths of the sea, not by entering the rocky 
cliffs of the mountains, not in any of these 
places, nor by any means, can a man escape 
the consequences of his evil deeds,’ 

“Then again,” resumed Delbert, “did you 
ever hear a resolution like this : 

‘A man who foolishly does me wrong, I 
will return to him the protection of my un- 
grudging love. The more evil cometh from 
him, the more good shall go from me,’ ” 
“Why, yes!” replied Maytie, “that’s the 
spirit of Jesus’ teachings,” 

“Then, here’s some more of it. Miss Ray: 
‘Hatred does not cease by hatred at any 
time; hatred ceases by love,’ 

“Then this is worth listening to: 

‘All that we are, is the result of all that 
we have thought; it is founded on our 
thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an 
83 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


evil thought, pain follows him as the wheel 
follows the foot of him who draws the cart.’ 

“Then the Buddhist Bible has this to say 
also. What do you think of it, Miss Ray? 

‘As the bee collects honey and departs 
without injuring the flower, so let him who 
is wise dwell on the earth.’ ” 

“O isn’t that beautiful? I wish that were 
in our Bible. It is so splendid!” spoke 
Maytie enthusiastically. 

“There are lots of true and beautiful 
things in the Tripitaka, Miss Ray. Here’s 
something that everyone would do well to 
remember : 

‘Let no man think lightly of evil, saying 
in his heart, it will not come nigh me. Let 
no man think lightly of good, saying in his 
heart, It will not benefit me. Even by the 
falling of water-drops a water-pot is filled.’ 

“Then, how do you like this? 

‘Let a man overcome anger by love, evil 
84 


awakening of lesterville 


by good, the greedy by liberality, the liar by 
truth.’ ” 

“I think, Mr. Jones, that if a Buddhist 
isn’t a good man it’s no fault of his religion. 
Why, it’s so like Chi’istianity!” 

“Then, Miss Ray, much credit is due the 
Buddhist religion because of five important 
commandments it lays down. They are as 
follows : 

‘Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not steal. 
Thou shalt not commit adultery, or any im- 
purity. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not 
intoxicate thyself.” 

“Well, there,” spoke up mother Ray, 
“I’m dumbfounded! That sounds just like 
our Bible again. Wish I had Elder Black 
by the neck. I’d choke him good! He al- 
ways makes out that there isn’t a particle of 
sense in any heathen belief — says they’re all 
superstition.” 

“Too bad we haven’t that temperance com- 
85 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


mandment in our Bible, mother,” said 
JSIaytie. 

“Some college man has suggested that one 
of that tenor be inserted,” replied Delbert. 

“The youngest of these seven great reli- 
gions, Mohammedanism, requires its mem- 
bers to say their prayers five times a day. 
What do you think of that. Miss Ray?” 

“I don’t see how they have time to do any- 
thing else, Mr. Jones. What kind of life 
do they stand for?” 

“The Koran, vFich is their Bible, forbids 
the offering of sacrifices to idols, the play- 
ing of games of chance, the charging of 
usury, and the use of intoxicating liquors. 
It also declares that no one can be a true 
believer until he loves for his brother what 
he loves for himself.’ ” 

“These are certainly commendahle teach- 
ings, Mr. Jones. I am delighted to know 
that these great world religions stand for 
God, immortality, and righteous living. I 
86 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


am thankful to you for the pains you have 
taken to call uj) these great witnesses to 
testify on what I consider the three most es- 
sential points in religion.” 

“The surprising thing to me, Mr, Jones,” 
spoke up the mother, “is that there’s one 
small particle of sense in any of these heath- 
en religions. Why, I’ve always been led 
to believe that the only appropriate things 
to associate with heathen peoples are non- 
sense and wickedness, and it makes me feel 
just a little ugly to learn that I’ve always 
been deceived. In fact, Mr. Jones, I be- 
lieve that portions here and there in those 
other religions are divinely inspired, and 
that it’s only fair to say so.” 

“I think you are right, Mrs. Ray. No 
one of the great world religions has ever 
had a monopoly of divine inspiration. And 
just as the bee goes to many fields for its 
storehouse of honey, just so should we be 
87 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


free to search the ages for religious truth if 
we so desire. Of course, the fair-minded 
student is frank to confess that Christianity 
has the most to offer the race. It is one of 
the youngest of the great world religions; 
and has, in all probability, drawn heavily 
upon those which have gone before, as you 
have seen this afternoon from the quotations 
given. But God has never been a respecter 
of nations. He has had helpful relations 
with them all. In the measure that they have 
sought after him, they have found him. 
This, at least, is the conclusion to which I 
have come.” 

“But Avhere would you go to church, Mr. 
Jones, with this broad view of religion?” 

“Right in my own community, Mrs. Ray 
— right Avhere you and all other good citi- 
zens should go. People do not have to think 
alike in all the details of their religion to go 
to the same church. We are all agreed on 
the great essential principles of religion, 
88 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


anyway; and the good Lord forgive any 
person who is so wrapped up in his own eon- 
ceit that he can’t spend one or two hours a 
Aveek to hear a minister preach who has a 
few ideas of his own.” 

“But no Baptist or Methodist or other 
sectarian preacher would receiv'e you into 
membership, with that broad view of religion 
you entertain.” 

“I know that, Mrs. Ray. All that the 
majority of such preachers are good for is 
to divide communities and split up families. 
They are enemies of civilization — not 
Christians at all, but promoters of denomi- 
national bigotry. The Great Judge may 
some day point them to the first chapter of 
First Corinthians, verses ten to thirteen, 
which they have all read time and again. 
These fellows should be requested to quit 
the ministry, and take up some kind of em- 
ployment where they could earn an honest 
living. Broader men Avould then be found 
89 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILI.E 


to take the places made vacant, and religion 
would improve. For some time to come, 
one large Christian church would be found 
to be a plenty in each community, that 
church to guarantee religious freedom to all. 
Questions of faith would then not be asked 
at the altar of those who would join. The 
belief of the candidate would be regarded as 
nobody’s business. God would know, and 
that would be enough.” 


90 


CHAPTER VIII. 

GETTING READY FOR ACTION 

The weeks flew by. September faded in- 
to golden October, and October into crisp 
November. Harvest time came and went. 
Lesterville was the center of life which was 
preparing for the frigid days of winter, 
when good things and good times in variety 
are abundant. Even religion comes in for 
a share of the spare time of all but the friv- 
olous and the wicked ; and that minister who 
presides over a village congregation is un- 
progressive if he does not hold a revival 
meeting during the winter. If there are two 
churches in the village, that means two re- 
vivals. And thus it was planned in Lester- 
ville. The Methodists were to hold one 
early in December and the Baptists another 
late in January. 


91 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


After much correspondence, the board of 
the Methodist church secured Rev. P. L. 
Dayton, Evangelist, to conduct services for 
two weeks, and longer if interest warranted. 
Cottage prayer meetings had been held for 
some time to get the brethren ready to do 
their part in the coming event for the salva- 
tion of sinners, for preaehers alone cannot 
make revivals a success. The choir, too, had 
been looking up recruits, and had already 
practiced several times. A cornet out of the 
Lesterville band and a violin were to be 
special attractions. 

Delbert had just got back from Henry 
Ray’s and made himself ready for church. 
It had been the practice with him for several 
months to consult the Republican for each 
minister’s topic, and then decide which 
church to attend. Ordinarily this is no way 
to do, but with Delbert it was best under 
the circumstances. Mrs. Buff, though, had 
in some way misplaced the paper that week, 
so he was at a loss to decide. 

92 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Come to the Methodist this time, Mr. 
Jones”, said Mrs. Buff. “Our minister will 
make a special effort this morning, for in 
just one week Mr. Dayton the evangelist is 
to begin the revival meetings.” 

“Thank you, Mrs. Buff,” said Delbert, 
“guess I’ll do that.” 

So saying he made his way to the Metho- 
dist church that morning to listen to -what 
proved to be a very spiritual address, and 
to music which was certainly soul-stirring. 
After announcing cottage prayer meetings 
for every evening that week, and the begin- 
ning of revival meetings for the following 
Sunday, and again asking the congregation 
to join with the choir in singing another 
hymn. Rev. Towne proceeded to deliver a 
very impassioned sermon on the text, “I am 
the vine and ye are the branches.” At the 
conclusion of his address, the reverend gen- 
tleman, in order to find out the character of 
the congregation before him just a little 
93 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


more definitely than his memory would 
serve him, applied this time-honored test: 

“Now, beloved, let all who are saved rise 
— all who are under the drippings of the 
cross — all who are washed in the blood of 
the Lamb.” 

To the complete dumbfounding of the 
minister, of many good Methodists, and es- 
pecially of Mandy Buff, there sat Delbert 
Jones, the school teacher. Could it be so! 
He, once a student in a theological seminary, 
and not saved by the blood shed on Calvary 1 
What did it mean? 

After services. Rev. Towne approached 
Delbert with these words : 

“Beg your pardon. Brother Jones, but at 
what hour do you have dinner on Simday?” 

“Not till two o’clock. Elder Towne.” 

“Would it be asking too much of you, 
then, to meet me here in the church at one? 
I should be much interested in having a 
short talk with you.” 


94 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


“Certainly not, Elder, I’ll be here”, said 
Delbert. And he was. 

After returning at one o’clock and seat- 
ing themselves comfortably in the rear of 
the church. Elder Towne began in this wise : 

“Would you object to telling me why you 
did not rise on invitation after the sermon 
this morning. Brother Jones?” 

“Certainly not. Elder! Simply because 
your statements were too bloody. Blood 
fills me with horror these days. Elder Towne, 
not with religion.” 

“Probably, then. Brother Jones, you 
don’t believe that the blood of Jesus saves 
men from their sins.” 

“I would not say that. Elder. I believe 
that it has saved and that it still saves men 
by the thousand all over the world. But, 
personally, I have outgrown this ancient 
idea. Of course, if blood sacrifice appeals 
to a man and causes him to quit sinning and 
to go leading a decent life, it certainly saves 
95 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


him, and I shall never depreciate any reli- 
gion that makes men better; but personally, 
though once I accepted the blood-washing 
principle, I have long since outgrown it. 
With me now, the life of Jesus has more to 
do with saving from sin than does his hlood/’ 

“You’re a deluded man! You’re lost, 
Jones! 

“And what is your idea about revival 
meetings?” 

“A revival may be aU right and a good 
thing in its place. Even church people often 
need reviving, you know. And as a means 
for mellowing up the stony hearts of out- 
siders, too, the revival meeting may be a very 
good thing. But I would not permit any 
one to join the church under the excitement 
of a revival, any more than I would permit a 
drunk man to sign a note or a contract or a 
deed to his farm. If the church isn’t worth 
joining in a cool, unexcited, rational state 
of mind, it isn’t worth joining at all.” 

96 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“I see, Brother Jones, that you do not 
have much use for the means which we are 
about to employ in our church to save men 
from sin.” 

“I must confess I do not. By way of 
comparison. Elder Towne, let me say that 
if a man should come to me to sell a life in- 
surance policy, and should get all excited 
over it; or to sell a farm, and should talk hys- 
terically of its merits, I should look with lots 
of suspicion upon his proposition. When a 
man begins to work on my feelings, I begin 
to look out. We should have our wits about 
us when we go into a business proposition; 
and. Elder, it should be the same in religion.” 

“Have you ever joined a Christian church, 
Mr. Jones?” 

“I have. Elder Towne; but, as I said a 
moment ago, I’ve outgrown my church, 
which is not saying very much.” 

“Jones, you’re lost! Promise me that you 
will attend our revival services.” 

97 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“I cannot promise, Elder, for it would 
be a mere waste of time. If I should attend 
every night for two weeks, I should still 
think as I do. Then, to see others going 
forward under excitement to take their first 
step in joining the church would make me 
feel bad.” 

“How may we help you, then?” 

“I’ve already been helped. Elder, thank 
you — I’ve been lifted up above this thing 
we’re talking about, above blood and above 
the practice of ‘saving’ people from their 
sins when they’re bubbling over with excite- 
ment. If the Evangelist can spare the time, 
however, he might put a Bible into his pocket 
and come over to the school building some 
evening after four o’clock. If he can show 
me that I have not advanced to a higher 
plane in the Christian religion. I’ll be quick 
to mend my thinking.” 

“You’re a lost man, Jones, but you show 
the right spirit. I’ll see that brother Day- 
98 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


ton calls on you. I believe he ean make it 
elear that you have fallen. Nothing but the 
broken body and shed hlood of Christ can 
save a man’s soul; and a revival meeting, 
brother Jones, is the only way some people 
can be reaehed.” 

“Yes, Elder, but eould not those same 
people who hold to the faith after the ex- 
citement is over, be induced to join the 
chureh without any revival, and the church 
be thus saved from the charge of getting its 
members by first paralyzing their intellectual 
powers?” 

And, after putting this query, Delbert 
Jones hastened back to Buff’s. 


99 


CHAPTER IX. 


A FEIENDLY ENEMY 

Many sighs and regrets went up after 
services that Sunday morning, and a vast 
deal of complaining was heard on every 
hand. Not a few remarked that it was a 
big mistake on the part of Elder Towne to 
apply such a test as he did at this particular 
time. He should have known where Mr. 
Jones stood long before this. If he had, he 
surely would not have advertised to the 
public that Mr. Jones had any misgivings. 

“Here we are on the verge of a revival 
meeting,” said a kind heart, “and with the 
head of our school not in sympathy with us 
in the fight. It’s a great misfortime. We 
had counted heavily on Mr. Jones to help 
us with the young people. Instead of help, 
100 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


he will hinder, for ‘He who is not for us is 
against us.’ 

“And,” remarked the same individual, “if 
Maytie Ray had been here, she, too, would 
have kept her seat just as Mr. Jones did. 
I tell you it’s a great misfortune that all the 
school teachers of the land don’t come out 
on the side of religion. Maytie has always 
been a great church worker, and still she 
can’t rise to her feet and announce to the 
young people who look to her for an example 
that she is saved by the blood of Jesus.” 

Morning preaching services in the Meth- 
odist church at Lesterville are always fol- 
lowed by Sunday school ; and the Bible Class 
had in it that Sunday three individuals who 
had more than their share of sorrow over the 
unfortunate incident of the day, as they con- 
sidered it. Georgia Dale, who teaches a 
district school a mile and a quarter west of 
town; Della Beach, who clerks in Darnell’s 
general store; and Mrs. Helen Duke were 
101 


AWAKENIJ^G OF LESTERVILLE 


bent on making an investigation as to the 
character of Delbert Jones’ religion. Was 
he a Christian or Avas he a heathen or what 
was he? After Sunday School was over, 
they tarried for a few minutes to plan their 
campaign. 

It fell to Georgia Dale to call upon the 
^Methodist mothers represented in JVIr. 
•Jones’ room at school. She had eight to 
visit, and did the work with dignity and 
good sense. The question! she invariably 
asked was, “What does Mr. Jones say or 
do at school to show that he has regard for 
religion?” The one answer she always re- 
ceived was substantially this, “On Monday 
anornings the two rooms come together for 
what they call chapel exercises. Mr. Jones 
always reads a passage from the Bible 
(usually one of the Psalms), and offers a 
short prayer. Then, with Maytie Ray at 
the organ, the school usually sings two or 
three school songs. One child from each 
102 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


room then gives a reeitation, or something 
of the sort, after which the younger children 
return to the primary room and all take up 
the work of the day. Good conduct, kind- 
ness, courtesy, and fair play characterizes 
every thing that is done; and utmost good 
will prevails between him and all his pupils.” 

Before Georgia Dale had completed her 
canvass, Mrs. Helen Duke had gone to 
Mandy Buff, who had this to say for the 
teacher : 

“Why, Mr. Jones is always kind and good- 
natured and jolly. Nothing seems ever to 
provoke him, and he is always very grateful 
for every kindness rendered and always will- 
ing and anxious to do William or me a good 
turn. 

“He doesn’t use tobacco or liquor or in- 
dulge in profane language or tell any vile 
stories, so William says, either here or down 
at the stores. If he ever says anything about 
anybody, it’s always something good. I 
103 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


don’t believe you could hire him to carry a 
bad report concerning any one. Before he 
goes to his rooms after supper he nearly al- 
ways plays on the organ and sings. And 
I don’t believe he ever goes to bed at night 
without reading from the Bible and saying 
ihis prayers. Of course, you must not say 
anything about this so’s he’d ever get to hear 
that I told you, for he might think I go to 
his door sometimes to eave-drop. But, of 
course, you know, Mrs. Duke, that I 
wouldn’t do such a thing. 

■“No, William an’ me think he’s just per- 
fection. I tell you, IVIrs. Duke, you could 
•have knocked me right over with a feather 
last Sunday when he didn’t rise at church. 
If he can’t go to Heaven when he dies, I 
don’t know what’ll become of some of the 
rest of us who make a profession of reli- 
gion! But then I don’t suppose he can till 
he bows at the cross and is washed in the 
blood. ‘There’s no other way under heaven 
104 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


whereby men may be saved.’ But he’s an 
awful good man, Mr. Jones is!” 

In this connection it should be said that 
no one but Rev. Towne knew that Delbert 
Jones had ever been baptized. But the fact 
that he claimed no longer to be under the 
blood would have made it just as bad any- 
way, if not worse. 

The next individual called upon W'as 
Maytie Ray. Della Beach had consented to 
interview Miss Ray, and to do so that same 
Sunday. Della called her up and made 
known that she desired to see her at some 
convenient time, whereupon IVIiss Ray in- 
vited her to come over at four o’clock. At 
the hour set, Miss Beach was on hand. 

“May I ask you, Maytie,” began Della, 
“what you know about the attitude of Mr. 
Jones to religion?” 

“And may I inquire why you ask?” re- 
sponded Miss Ray. 

At this, Della related the embarrassing in- 
105 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


cident which concluded the morning services 
at the Methodist church, and referred to the 
sensation which it caused. She also la- 
mented that such a thing should transpire 
right in the face of what deserved to be a 
great and successful revival meeting. 

“And why should you come to me for in- 
formation regarding Mr. Jones’ religion?” 
asked Maytie. 

“Some of the church people want to know 
whether he is for or against Christ in his 
conversation and life, and it is thought you 
know him better than does anyone else 
liere.” 

“Of course, I don’t know as to that,” re- 
plied Maytie. “Personally, I think it a mis- 
take on the part of ministers to frame a 
question in the way you say Rev. Towne did. 
Only think of a person ‘washed in blood!” 
Of course, it is only a figure. I understand 
that. But think of the picture which that 
figure brings to mind.” 

106 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“But,” spoke Miss Beach with some em- 
phasis, “is Mr. Jones for Christ or against 
him?” 

“What I know about Mr. Jones’ religion 
is this, Della, and you may take it for what 
it is worth. In the first place, he is a student 
of all the great religions. He sees beauty 
and real religion to a certain extent in them 
all. But I have heard him say that he is 
partial to Christianity. He regards it as 
the greatest of all the great religions. 

“He testifies in church, and takes part in 
the singing. He conducts devotional exer- 
cises in the school, and his language and con- 
duct and manners, so far as I can see, are 
above reproach. Utmost good will prevails 
between him and his pupils. 

“I couldn’t cite the first thing derogatory 
to Mr. Jones. So, in answer to your ques- 
tion, I should say his influence is on the side 
of religion. As to just what construction 
107 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


he places on the Bible and Christianity, I 
can’t say.” 

“Do you suppose he’s a Catholic?” 

“I have no idea he is, Della. In fact, I 
know he is not. Yet I should not be sur- 
prised to hear that, by striking an average, 
as we might say, he has just as much respect 
for Catholic Christianity as for Protestant.” 

So much Della learned from Maytie Ray, 
and no more. After a lively chat on a vari- 
ety of subjects, she returned to her home 
with a feeling tliat she both knew and did 
not know about Delbert Jones’ attitude to 
Christianity. 

The three women arranged for a confer- 
ence with their minister, Mr. Towne, at his 
residence at eight o’clock the next Wednes- 
day evening; for this investigation was not 
made without the knowledge of the pastor. 
And, when the women met in Rev. Towne’s 
study to tell what they knew, it was with 
108 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


much interest that the reverend gentleman 
listened to their reports. 

“Your statements agree on these points,” 
said the minister: “Mr. Jones is a gentle- 
man of pleasing personality and kindness of 
heart. His language is pure and his life ex- 
emplary; his influence, on the side of re- 
ligion. All that he needs, sisters, is this won- 
derful salvation which you and I enjoy. 
His life is faultless, so far as we know, but 
Adam’s finger prints are upon him, and only 
the blood of Jesus can wash them away and 
keep him in the straight and narrow path. 
Mr. Jones is laboring under the delusion 
that he has risen above the blood of the 
Savior. Now, let us drop this matter right 
W'here it is, and say nothing more about it. 
Mr. Jones has consented to do all any man 
can do. He has consented to receive our 
evangelist. Mr. Dayton will fix him up. 
I’ll warrant. He’s a specialist at curing the 
ills of the soul.” 


109 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 

Delbert Jones was soon apprised of what 
was taking place in the community, and rea- 
soned w’ith himself that Maytie Ray might 
know even more than he did about the in- 
vestigation that was going on. Accordingly, 
after school Monday evening, Delbert went 
to the primary room to see that faithful lit- 
tle co-laborer of his; not, however, to ask 
her to divulge any secrets. 

“Some of the good sisters over here at 
the Methodist church are trying to find out 
how I am behaving myself here in Lester- 
ville, JNIiss Ray,” said Delbert to Maytie, 
looking at her closely. “I didn’t come in to 
ask you to divulge anything though, and 
don’t want you to. I understand, however, 
that you could if you would.” 

“How do you know that I’m advised of 
any such thing, Mr. Jones?” asked Maytie 
in some surprise. 

“You told me so.” 

“I beg your pardon, Mr. Jones! Why, I 

no 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


never said a word to you about any such 
thing.” 

“I don’t know what you’d call it,” said 
Delhert, “hut you certainly told me right 
here less than two minutes ago.” 

“How?” 

“By your manner.” 

“You must have a sixth sense, IVIr. 
Jones,” said Maytie. 

“Don’t know what you’d call it.” 

“What are you going to do about it?”" 
asked Maytie. 

“Nothing! What I have thought, I have 
thought ; and what I have said, I have said,” 
responded Delbert in a, manner which 
showed Maytie that he was not worrying. A 
clear conscience needs no comforter ; a guilty 
conscience, no accuser. 

“They’re going to do something them- 
selves, though,” continued Delbert. “They 
are going to send their evangelist over here 
to the building after school some evening ta 
111 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


help me see things in their way. They wish 
to draw me back to the plane of blood sac- 
rifice; and also to show me, I suppose, that 
the revival meeting is a proper channel 
through which to bring people into the 
church.” 

“Their motive is good and kind, to say 
the least,” spoke May tie. 

“And I appreciate such a spirit, I assure 
you. Miss Ray. One should not be blind to 
kindness, or ungrateful to missions of good 
intent.” 

“Do you know, Mr. Jones, I’d like awful- 
ly well to ask a question about what you 
just said?” 

“Ask it!” 

“You say the evangelist is coming over 
here to help you see things as they see them. 
I have some difficulties with church doctrines 
myself, Mr. Jones, though I have never 
dared mention them to a living soul — not 
112 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


even to mother or to any of my brothers or 
to Elder Black, our minister.” 

“Well, I’m a ‘living soul’. Miss Ray, so 
be careful. Better save your questions and 
ask them of Mr. Dayton when he comes.” 

“My, but I’d be afraid to. Why, he’d 
think I’m a terrible girl — terribly wicked to 
question some of the things I do! Possibly 
the things I question you could set right in 
my mind yourself, and I’d not have to adver- 
tize my misgivings.” 

“You may tell me. Miss Ray, if you wish. 
I desire to say about myself, however, that 
I have no trouble whatever over the great 
essentials of religion, that is, over what I 
call essentials.” And Maytie Ray pro- 
ceeded to tell to her trusted school partner 
what she had never dared tell even to her 
nearest relatives. 

“No, Miss Ray, I could not change your 
views on any of these points, and especially 
on blood sacrifice and revival meetings. The 
113 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


shedding of the blood of a sheep or a goat or 
a dove or an ox or a human being to obtain 
the forgiveness of an angry God is a prac- 
tice as old as history, and common to several 
world religions ; and what the forefathers of 
any race have believed for a few thousand 
years it is hard for their children to out- 
grow. Revival meetings, too, of a nerve- 
racking kind, have been in the world for a 
long time, and have a pretty firm grip of ap- 
proval on the minds of lots of people; but 
they have degenerated of late into a sort of 
money-making scheme. Still it is hard to 
rise up above such a long established prac- 
tice. 

“No, Miss Ray,” Delbert repeated, “I 
could not change your views on any of these 
things. When the evangelist calls on me 
here in the school, I shall invite you into my 
room if he is willing. Would you come?” 

“I should be pleased to do so, Mr. Jones. 
Thank you!” 


114 


CHAPTER X. 

DAYTON TO ATTACK JONES 

On Saturday afternoon of that week, Rev. 
Towne and two of the pillars of the Meth- 
odist church met Mr. Dayton at Wheaton 
and escorted him to Lesterville, where two 
Sunday services were to he held on the 
morrow. Whatever arrangements might be 
made afterward, and however much his 
company might be divided up among the 
brethren later. Rev. Towne was to entertain 
Mr. Dayton over Sunday. For some rea- 
son, which may be known to ministers, the 
evangelist was not early made aware of the 
fact that an investigation had been under 
progress during the week and had been ter- 
minated only a few days previous to his ar- 
rival. 


11,5 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


Out of justice to Delbert Jones, it must 
be said that he really and truly loved to at- 
tend revival meetings. He always had. 
There is always something splendidly help- 
ful about the music. Music always touched 
the right spot in Delbert Jones — the melody, 
however, and not the words, for the w^ords 
usually make the singer out to be either a 
babe or a sheep or a lamb or something else 
distasteful to one of his views. So Delbert 
would have gone Sunday to the Methodist 
church to hear the singing, but he did not 
intend to be made a spectacle of again right 
away if he could help it. It did not matter, 
therefore, what Rev. Black was going to 
talk about that day, the Baptist church was 
the place for Delbert to go anyway. 

With the Methodists, the cottage prayer 
meetings of the past weeks had had their 
effect, and the frequent drills of the choir 
gave assurance that there would be plenty 
of good music. * * * 


116 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


The splendid preparation for the revival 
was sensed by the evangelist as soon as he 
crossed the threshold of the church door. 
How brave is a minister and how confident 
of success when he knows other helpers are 
to take a lively interest. The enthusiasm put 
into Mr. Dayton’s first sermon was met by 
encouraging “amens” from the zealous 
brethren, and by inspiring music from the 
choir, and had the effect fairly to lift the 
audience off their seats. 

At the conclusion of the morning sermon, 
when the audience seemed all athrob with 
enthusiasm, the evangelist remarked : 

“Brethren, I w'ant every Christian in the 
church to rise this morning and testify to 
the goodness of God and the assurance of 
salvation. It matters not how many are 
speaking at once. Jesus can hear.” 

“Who will be first?” asked Mr. Dayton. 

At this, more than a dozen were on their 
feet, half of them waiting, the other half 
117 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


talking. Soon the whole audience seemed 
rising at once, some to speak and others to 
■drop to their knees. Such a sight and such 
a confusion of tongues! Some were talk- 
ing, some singing, some praying, some cry- 
ing “amen” at the top of their voices. We 
do not refer to the event, however, to im- 
pugn any one’s motives or to ridicule; but 
as one of the phenomena of human nature 
which science long ago answered. But, 
whatever its explanation, it meant the right 
thing to the evangelist. Such a condition, 
thought he, must bring forth “abundant 
fruitage.” When all were through their 
testimonies, the brethren Avere asked each to 
bring one other person to the evening 
service. 

“Let us fill the seats and the aisles this 
evening,” said Mr. Dayton, “and have them 
standing uj> all around the room. The Lord 
is going to bless our efforts I know.” 

With this, the choir sang beautifully a 
118 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


closing hymn ; the benediction was pro- 
nounced; and those who did not belong to 
the Sunday School, or care to remain, re- 
turned to their homes to tell their neighbors! 
about the splendid sermon and wonderful 
music. 

^ ^ 

The evangelist was not disappointed with 
the attendance in the evening. Song service 
began at seven o’clock as announced, and the 
people crowded in from village and country 
till the commodious room was full to over- 
flowing. A choice variety of sacred music 
was on the program — a duet, a quartette, 
and a cornet solo; while much of the old- 
time congregational singing was provided, 
which, after all, is what most enthuses a 
meeting of this kind and brings “results.” 

After a rousing address on John 3:16, the 
evangelist requested all Christians to come_ 
forward who desired to reconsecrate them- 
selves to Jesus Christ. The floor near the 
119 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


altar soon supported an immense load of 
humanity, and the air became astir with 
pleadings and sobbings and “amens” and 
shouts of “Glory to Jesus.” 

* * * 

This was the first Sunday in Lestervdlle 
that Delbert Jones had gone twice to the 
Baptist church ; and, whether others thought 
of it or not, Maytie Ray did, and could 
scarcely refrain from smiling at Delbert 
when he took a seat and glanced up at the 
choir where she sat, for she understood the 
circumstances which kept him away from the 
Methodist. 

When services were over, Delbert tar- 
ried a little to do, or try to do, what he 
never before had attempted, that is, to es- 
cort Miss Ray home from church. After 
the usual informal greetings and cordial in- 
dulgences so common in country churches, 
the people began to return to their homes. 
Delbert and Maytie paired off as naturally 
120 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


as though it had been planned that way. 
And where did they agree to go but to the 
Methodist church to “take in the situation”, 
for revival meetings usually extend a little 
farther into the evening than regular serv- 
ices do. 

To the pleasure and comfort of both, 
they could get no farther than the inner 
door. But here they could see the evangelist 
very comfortably and see and hear every- 
thing that was going on inside. Before the 
demonstration was over around the altar, 
Delbert and Maytie took their departure. 

“Have you met the evangelist yet, Mr. 
Jones?” inquired Maytie as they left the 
church. 

“No.” 

“I suppose he’ll think you a heathen, 
won’t he, when you ask him to explain some 
of the things we were talking about the 
other day after school?” asked Maytie. 

“I suppose so”, responded Delbert. 

121 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“And would you join the Methodist 
church if he should convinee you that ortho- 
dox Christianity is, after all, good enough 
for anybody?” 

“Hardly! There are eighty-seven other 
Christian denominations that would want to 
tell me the best way of salvation. I shouldn’t 
expect ever to find time to study them all 
and make an intelligent decision till I get to 
the next world.” 

“And, when you get there, do you ex- 
pect to hear so much arguing over creeds 
and doctrines?” said Maytie as they were 
nearing the house. 

But at this, the front door opened and a 
near neighbor took her departure. She had 
been spending the time with Delvina Ray, 
who rarely ever goes to ehureh of an eve- 
ning. On Maytie’s invitation, Delbert 
stepped inside to greet Mrs. Ray, with 
whom he always liked to talk. In a few 
122 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


minutes, however, he bade the ladies good 
night and returned to Buff’s. 

* * * 

When services at the Methodist were over 
and the two ministers had got home and 
settled down into comfortable chairs and had 
discussed enthusiastically the prospect for 
a great revival. Rev. Towne remarked to 
the evangelist: 

“Brother Dayton, we have at the head of 
our school this year a mighty fine young 
man who has spent a year in a theological 
seminary preparing for the ministry; but 
who, for some reason, has drifted away from 
his noble ambition, and now seems to be 
drifting away from the church of Jesus 
Christ itself.” 

“What seems wrong with the fellow?” 

“I don’t know. I learned of his deluded 
ideas only a week ago, when in response to 
my inquiry as to what we might do for him, 
he remarked, ‘You might have the evan- 
123 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


gelist put his Bible into his pocket and come 
over to the school building some evening 
after four o’clock.’ I suppose he thought it 
would be a quiet and strictly secret place for 
a conference with you.” 

“I shall be glad to go to the young fellow’s 
relief,” said the evangelist. “I know what’s 
wrong. He went to some seminary full of 
his youthful faith, and the instructors tried 
to mix in some of this new theology, and it 
unsettled his ideas and made him disgusted 
with everything. I don’t wonder at it. 
Nearly all our higher institutions of learn- 
ing are becoming hotbeds of infidelity. Our 
magazines and newspapers and many of our 
pulpits, even, are rampant with the poison 
of liberality. The young man has my sym- 
pathy, and I can be as gentle with him as a 
father could. I just like to get hold of such 
cases.” 

“When do you think,” inquired Rev. 
Towne, “it will be best to go and see him?” 

“The sooner the better. He probably has 
124 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


influence over many of the young people in 
his school and the community and we can’t 
afford to let him be indifferent to the re- 
vival,” 

“Yes, he’s well liked by his pupils;' and, in 
fact, by everyone who knows him. Suppose 
we go over and see him to-morrow night 
after school. I’ll go with you and make you 
acquainted, and then leave you alone with 
him. He would feel freer to talk with you 
alone, I surmise.” 

“Very well, then,” replied the evangelist. 
“If it will be convenient for him, we’U go 
over to-morrow evening after school. You 
see him about the matter to-morrow, brother 
Towne. The sooner the better, you know, 
under the circumstances.” 

“Certainly!” replied the Methodist 
preacher. And, with this understanding, 
the reverend gentlemen both retired for the 
evening after the strain of two heavy church 
services. 


125 


CHAPTER XI. 

FIRST BATTLE 

It was on his way to the postoffice, Mon- 
day morning shortly after eight o’clock, that 
Rev. Towne chanced to meet Delbert Jones. 
As they approached each other, the elder 
inquired: 

“Would it be convenient for you to re- 
ceive Mr. Dayton, our evangelist, after four 
o’clock this evening, Mr. Jones? He de- 
sires to meet you and help you if he can.” 

“I should be pleased to make the acquaint- 
ance of Mr. Dayton, Brother Towne, but he 
would only be wasting time to try to change 
my views.” 

“What, you don’t think your case a hope- 
less one, do you?” 

“From your standpoint, yes. But if Mr. 

126 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


Dayton considers it a part of his Christian 
duty to minister to me, I am probably 
equally under obligations to hear him.” 

“You are too good a man, Mr. Jones, to 
be tied up to such a theory as you entertain. 
We need you in the church. We need your 
help. We need your influence.” 

“But self-respect forbids me joining your 
church. Elder Towne, thinking as I do 
now.” 

“This higher Christianity idea of yours, 
Mr. Jones, is all a delusion. The evangelist 
desires to set you right.” 

“That is kind of him. Tell him I shall 
be pleased to meet him,” replied Delbert. 

After returning home from the postoflice. 
Rev. Towne remarked to the evangelist: 

“Brother Dayton, that matter is all ar- 
ranged. Now, we must bring that fellow 
back to our way of thinking if possible, and 
the primary teacher too. To get them into 
the church would; be to get twenty more 
127 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


young people who would follow their ex- 
ample.” 

While the two ministers were thus con- 
versing, Delbert Jones was informing Miss 
Ray on what was to happen at four o’clock. 

“If I could myself just get this matter 
of religion settled in a satisfactory way, Mr. 
Jones,” said Maytie, “I’d be the happiest 
girl in the w'orld.” 

“Unless the evangelist objects, I shall call 
you in. Miss Ray, as we both entertain about 
the same views; and if you come, you must 
be just as free to help on the discussion as 
myself. We shall test the evangelist as 
much as he does us before we are through 
with him if we do the fair thing by ourselves 
in the argument.” 

The hour of four came, the children were 
dismissed, and the ministers appeared with 
Rev. Towne leading the way into the school- 
room. Delbert advanced with his hand ex- 
tended; and, after greeting Rev. Towne, 
128 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


was introduced to Mr. Dayton — a short, 
thick, heavy-built, smooth-shaven man, 
probably fifty years old, and of dark com- 
plexion. After a cordial hand-shake, the 
exchange of little civilities, and a short visit. 
Rev. Towne excused himself and withdrew, 
leaving the evangelist alone Avith the teacher. 

“Why is it, Mr. Jones, that the vicarious 
atonement is no longer acceptable to you?” 
inquired Mr. Dayton. “I understand, too, 
that the primary teacher is not willing to ac- 
cept the blood of Christ. What is wrong? 
Education and religion should go hand in 
hand.” 

“What you say is true, Mr. Dayton, but 
personally I’ve risen above the blood sacri- 
fice idea. What you say about the primary 
teacher is also quite true. Miss Ray and I 
entertain many of the same views, and she 
will want to see you herself before you leave 
the village.” 


129 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“If that is the case, why not invite her in, 
Mr. Jones?” 

Now, this is just what Delbert wanted 
him to say. So he forthwith brought in his 
lady friend, and introduced the evangelist 
to the most brilliant and charming young 
woman of Lesterville, as Delbert was fast 
coming to regard her. 

“If you teachers,” began the evangelist, 
“will now tell me what is troubling you, I 
will see what I can do.” 

“Nothing is troubling us, Mr. Dayton,” 
said Delbert. “When you stated a few 
moments ago, however, that ‘Education and 
religion should go hand in hand,’ you uttered 
a splendid truth.” 

“Well, don’t they?” inquired the evange- 
list. 

“Not if I read the newspapers and maga- 
zines aright, and the discussions between our 
great educators and theologians. For the 
past several years, Mr. Dayton, lively skirm- 
130 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


ishes have been going on between edu- 
cation and religion. This fact, however, had 
nothing to do with the origin and growth of 
my doubts. My misgivings were matters 
which arose wholly out of my own experi- 
ence while in the struggle to secure an edu- 
cation.” 

“What was the trouble, Mr. Jones?” 

“I will give you just the briefest account 
of my high school experience as it touches 
matters of religion. I desire to say at the 
outstart that I was reared in a Bible home. 
That is, I was under the influence of Bible 
teaching in my earlier boyhood days. Father 
and mother were Baptists. I well remember 
my mother’s pictorial Bible. I well remem- 
ber the stories that were told me when a boy. 
I well remember, too, the nature of a child’s 
faith — father and mother say it is so, so it 
must be so.” 

“O, for the faith of a child,” sighed the 
evangelist. 


131 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Indeed, I did not know till I started to 
high school,” continued Delbert, “that any- 
body had any particular fault to find with 
my mother’s Bible, or her religion. For 
thirteen years my young moral nature had 
fed upon it. For thirteen years T had been 
trained in Baptist ideas, as it were. Why, 
mother’s religion had become a part of me 
just as much as a hand or a foot!” 

“O, for the faith of our mothers!” again 
sighed the evangelist. 

“And I shall never forget the blows that 
came to my boyish faith. The first, as I 
just intimated, was in the high school, in the 
science department. 

“Now, geology was not on my course, 
but I overheard another pupil reciting on 
the ‘Age of the earth.’ He said that geology 
teaches that the earth is millions of years 
old. The teacher asked him how scientists 
know this to be true. The boy’s explana- 
tion was so good that I had to respect it. 

132 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


When I got home I went straight to my 
Bihle and found, as I thought, that God 
created the world 4004 years before Christ 
and in six days. Maybe you think I was 
not shocked! The very idea that education 
and religion did not agree!” 

While ]Mr. Jones was thus rehearsing his 
troubles, the evangelist was taking copious 
notes, ostensibly in order to be ready to make 
a thorough and definite reply to the teach- 
er’s objections. 

“Some time later in the physics class”, re- 
sumed Delbert, “we were discussing ‘in- 
ertia’, when one of the girls asked the 
teacher what the effect would be if the earth 
should suddenly stop turning on its axis. 
The teacher replied that it would burn up 
instantly because of the heat it would gen- 
erate in the process of stopping. Then I 
recalled how Joshua caused the earth to 
stand still while he should kill his enemies. 
These were sore days for me; when two of 
133 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


my favorite friends, the Bible and education, 
fell to quarreling.” And the evangelist 
kept on writing. 

“At another time, in the same class,” Del- 
bert continued, “we had for our lesson the 
subject of ‘refraction.’ The text-book, after 
setting forth the principle, suggested the 
popular experiment with the prism, which 
we performed. It was also explained that, 
in accordance with the same principle of ‘re- 
fraction’, the sun’s rays in shining through 
the rain produce the rainbow. Of course, I 
was shocked again. I recalled how my 
Bible virtually stated that there was no rain- 
bow till after the flood (2348 before Christ) 
when God placed that beautiful ribbon in 
the sky as a seal to his promise never again 
to drown the earth. Could it be, thought I, 
that light and water were any different dur- 
ing the centuries before the flood than after, 
or that this law of nature was not then opera- 
tive. 


134 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“What should I do, continue to go to 
school or quit? Education and the Bible 
were continually falling out, and the Bible 
seemed always to get the worst of it. I even 
began to half-way doubt that the whale swal- 
lowed Jonah, and had him under process of 
digestion for three days without injury to 
Jonah.” 

Maytie Ray did not care to sit there like 
a dummy, nor did she like to see the evan- 
gelist wielding his pencil vociferously with- 
out saying a word, so she asked: 

“Do you think. Brother Dayton, it is 
worth while to teach such absurd things in 
this enlightened age? Of course, parents 
may suceeed in making their trustful chil- 
dren believe such stories when they are 
babies; but when they become older and ac- 
quire some education, will they not come to 
regard these stories as mere nonsense? And, 
what is a thousand times worse, are they not 
135 


AWAKEXIXG OF LESTER VILLE 


very liable to lose respect for all religion 
and drift to infidelity?” 

“I have made note of that point, Miss 
Ray,” replied the evangelist, with a wise 
look in his face. 

It had now become evident to Delbert and 
JSIaytie that what the evangelist intended to 
say he would say later, so Delbert went on: 

‘‘No, higher education and most of the sec- 
tarian religions that I know anything about, 
at any rate, do not go hand in hand. I believe 
in education, however, and I believe in re- 
ligion. But the pride of my heart is this 
higher Christianity which I have discovered, 
for it contains a lofty conception of God and 
as capable of standing against all the storms 
of education. 

“How, for instance, could I ever believe, 
Mr. Dayton,, that God, the greatest and 
busiest being in the universe, ever descended 
to the trivial business of telling Moses how 
to make perfumery; or that he hardened the 
136 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


heart of Pharaoh so that he would not let the 
children of Israel go out of Egypt and then 
turned around and punished Pharaoh se- 
verely for not letting them go; or that God 
ordered Moses to lie to the king in order 
to get them away from bondage; or that he 
told the Israelites to borrow all they could 
from the Egyptians and take it away with 
them when they went ; or that God endorsed 
polygamy or slavery or took part in the 
bloody wars of the Old Testament; or that 
he instructed Jehu to murder all the house 
of Ahab? How am I to believe these things 
about God? 

“Brother Dayton,” continued Delbert, 
“you preachers tell us that the Bible is God’s 
w^ord cover to cover, and yet I read these 
words in the fourteenth chapter of Deuter- 
onomy: 

“ ‘Ye shall not eat of anything that dieth 
of itself; thou shalt give it unto the stranger 
137 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


that is in thy gates, that he may eat it; or 
thou mayest sell it unto an alien.’ 

“In the twenty-first chapter of Deuter- 
onomy, I read these words: ‘If a man have a 
stubborn and rebellious son, which will not 
obey the voice of his father, or the voice ot 
his mother, and that, when they have chas- 
tened him, will not harken unto them ; then 
shall his father and his mother lay hold on 
him, and bring him out unto the elders of 
his city, and unto the gate of his place, and 
they shall say unto the elders of his city, this 
our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will 
not obey our voices; he is a glutton and a 
drunkard. And all the men of his city shall 
stone him with stones, that he die.’ 

“Then, too. Brother Dayton, I don’t know 
how to make myself believe that woman was 
made out of the rib of a man; or that a ser- 
pent could talk to a donkey; or that Jonah 
could live for three days in a whale; or that 
Nebuchadnezzar could eat grass like an ox 
138 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


for seven years. Of course, Brother Day- 
ton, if you taught that these were only Bible 
myths, that would be a different thing. But 
you preachers say the Bible is God’s word 
cover to cover. And you are not helping us. 
Brother Dayton, not helping us to under- 
stand these troublesome things.” 

“You see, my dear young people,” replied 
the evangelist, “the objections which you 
urge are not superficial. You have thought 
long and arduously on these points, and they 
have developed in your minds deep-seated 
objections to the religion which I represent. 
The only wise course for me to pursue, 
therefore, is to make note of these things 
which vex you so and discuss them with Rev. 
Towne, for whom I am laboring, and then 
reply to you in careful explanation. You 
two young people are educated and thought- 
ful; and a shilly-shally, off-hand reply would 
do more harm than good. A poor hasty an- 
swer is often worse than no answer at all.” 

139 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Your reply to Mr. Jones is perfectly 
splendid, Mr. Dayton,” said Maytie. “I am 
very glad you have such excellent judgment 
with regard to answering his very trouble- 
some questions.” 

“That’s all right. Brother Dayton,” said 
Delbert. “I like to see a man think before 
he speaks. I have more respect then for his 
words. The point I would make, you see, is 
this, the Bible is not God’s word, cover to 
cover. It is often neither good science nor 
good sense. 

“But bad leads to worse. Brother Day- 
ton,” continued Delbert, “and I find the 
Bible contradicting itself in many, many 
places. If I should tell you that my neigh- 
bor has just painted his house a rich brown 
color, and you should go by and find it pure 
white; or if I should tell you that the tree 
out here in our yard is a maple, when you 
can plainly see it is a horse chestnut; and 
should keep up that sort of thing very long, 
140 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


you would soon come to regard me as imre- 
liable. To my way of thinking, the follow- 
ing passages from the Bible prove beyond 
all doubt that it is not God’s word cover to 
cover — that it is not a perfect or infallible 
book. 

“In the twenty-second chapter of Genesis, 
we read these words, ‘and it came to pass 
after these things, that God did tempt Abra- 
ham’; while in the first chapter of James, 
is says, ‘Let no man say when he is tempted, 
I am tempted of God; for God cannot be 
tempted of evil, neither tempteth he any 
man.’ 

“In the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, we 
read, ‘The earth abideth forever/ while in 
the third chapter of Second Peter it says, 
‘The earth also and the works that are there- 
in, shall be burned up/ 

“In the second chapter of Second Kings 
occur these words, ‘Elijah went up by a 
whirlwind into heaven’ ; but the third chap- 
141 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


ter of John declares that, "No man hath as- 
cended up to heaven hut the Son of Man/ 

“Then in the thirty-second chapter of 
Genesis, we read these words, ‘I have seen 
God face to face"; while in the fourth chapter 
of First John we find that, "No man hath 
seen God at any time." 

“Do you wonder, Mr. Dayton,” said May- 
tie, “that educated people who read the Bible 
intelligently are given to doubting?” 

“My dear young people,” said the evan- 
gelist, “I only repeat what I said a moment 
ago — I shall confer with Brother Towne be- 
fore replying. If convenient for you both, 
I will call again to-morrow at this time.” 

Mr. Jones and Miss Ray assented, 
thanked Mr. Dayton for all his pains, and 
the evangelist made his return to the 
Methodist parsonage. The teachers tarried 
a little longer. 

“Mr. Jones, the world is full of people 
easy to convince,” remarked Miss Ray. 

142 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Everything they hear they believe at once 
and implicitly. It never dawns upon them 
that there may he another side. Isn’t it 
strange?” 

“Yes,” replied Delbert, “and this disposi- 
tion shows itself nowhere more than in re- 
ligion. In evidence of this, we have on the 
one hand the sectarian clergy supporting 
Bible ‘infallibility’ ; and on the other, infidel- 
ity ready to overthrow the whole thing be- 
cause of certain imperfections. We will have 
patience, however, with both these extremes. 
Miss Ray, if we are wise, because they give 
us both sides of the story and put us in a 
fair way to find the truth.” 

“But” inquired Maytie, “don’t you think 
that all easily-convinced folks are alike de- 
structive to the Bible, Mr. Jones, whether on 
the one hand they be over-zealous Christians, 
or on the other ranting infidels? Indeed, I 
have read somewhere that "The worst ene- 
143 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


mies of the Bible are its short-sighted 
friends.’ ” 

“True, Miss Ray. And I maintain that 
those who give ear to both sides of the Bible 
controversy as it is carried on between sec- 
tarian preachers and impartial scholars, and 
those only, are in a position to be real con- 
structionists. And fair-minded men every- 
where are agreed that the constructive atti- 
tude to religion and the affirmative stand for 
the Bible, wherever possible, are the things 
that should be emphasized. It is not what 
w'e don’t believe that will help the world, 
but what we do believe; not the errors which 
men have unintentionally inserted or ignor- 
antly translated into the Bible that the world 
needs most to know about; but its great, 
indestructible, and universally accepted 
truths.” 

“But you must confess, Mr. Jones, that 
you said much about the bad in the Old Tes- 
tament when you were talking to the evan- 
144 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


gelist, and nothing about the good and true 
and acceptable.” 

“In that discussion, Miss Ray, it was my 
purpose to take the position of the thinking 
men of our time, leaving Mr. Dayton to do 
what Mr. Towne said he would, that is, help 
us see things in the right light.” 

“Oh, I am not taking exception to what 
you said, Mr. Jones. You treated Mr. Day- 
ton in all fairness. But I was just wonder- 
ing if he would get the idea that you have 
no use for the Old Testament.” 

“Well, now, I wonder,” said Delbert, “if 
he went away with that impression. I would 
certainly have no one think I am not a friend 
of the Bible. That book is the source of 
more comfort and joy to me than any other, 
for the wings of error have borne down 
upon them through the countless ages great 
and indestructible religious truths.” 

“And yet,” remarked Miss Ray, “accord- 
ing to a statement you made the other day, 
145 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


it is not a book either, is it ; but a set of books 
or a book of books?” 

“That is quite true, Miss Ray. Scholars 
are pretty well agreed that the books of the 
Old Testament, beginning with Amos and 
extending down through the centuries to 
Enoch II. were written at various times 
from the eighth century B. C. to the first 
B. C., and finally collected and put together 
under one binding.” 

“Don’t you know, Mr. Jones, that a great 
many people think that the Old Testament, 
as it is now composed, but in a different 
language, was in some mysterious way vir- 
tually handed down from heaven by God 
or placed under a great rock; and not that 
it is a lot of records collected here and there 
by many men, culled over, compared, as 
many thrown out as they pleased, and the 
rest finally put together by human erring 
creatures, as you were telling me the other 
day?” 


146 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“I know. Miss Ray, that the truth about 
the matter is seldom explained. I know that 
sectarian ministers commonly inject into it, 
and throw about the Bible as much mystery 
and superstition as credulous people will 
bear. This they think will inspire a holier 
regard for it, and frighten the reader out of 
eliminating its errors. They disregard the 
Scripture where it says, ‘The truth shall 
make you free.’ But for all that. Miss Ray, 
the Old Testament, even, is a wonderful 
book in spite of the exaggerated stories told 
about it, and a book worthy of a place in 
every home. Where would you go, for in- 
stance, and find better literature and nobler 
thought and better spiritual food than we 
find in some of the Psalms? Listen to the 
twenty-third : 

“ ‘The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not 
want. He maketh me to lie down in green 
pastures; he leadeth me beside the still wa- 
ters. He restoreth my soul, he leadeth me 
147 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


in the paths of righteousness for his 
name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through 
the valley of the shadow of death, I shall 
fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod 
and thy staff they eomfort me. Thou pre- 
parest a table before me in the presence of 
mine enemies; thou anointest my head with 
oil; my cup runneth over: Surely goodness 
and mercy shall follow me all the days of 
my life; and I will dwell in the house of the 
Lord forever.’ Such confidence in God! 
And it was expressed centuries before Christ. 

“Then, note the following beautiful 
thought: 

“ ‘Bless the Lord, oh, my soul, and aU that 
is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the 
Lord, oh my soul; and forget not all his 
benefits; who forgiveth all thine iniquities; 
who healeth all thy diseases ; who redeemeth 
thy life from destruction ; who crowneth thee 
with loving kindness and tender mercies.’ 

148 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Listen to the following beautiful and 
sensible prayer: 

“ ‘Search me, O, God, and know my 
heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and 
see if there be any wicked way in me, and 
lead me in the way everlasting.’ 

“There are hundreds of beautiful gems in 
the Psalms of David, beautiful not only for 
the thought they contain and the spiritual 
enrichment they afford, but for the language 
— the literature. In Isaiah we find these 
words concerning the greatness of God : 

“ ‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, 
neither are your ways my ways, saith the 
Lord. For as the heavens are higher than 
the earth, so are my ways higher than yom* 
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.’ 

“Here, too, is a bit of sensible advice: 

“ ‘Seek ye the Lord while he may he 
found, call ye upon him while he is near ; let 
the wicked forsake his way, and the unright- 
eous man his thoughts; and let him return 
149 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon 
him.’ ” 

Delbert Jones and IMaytie Ray now went 
to their homes, Miss Ray having much re- 
gard for Delbert’s religious judgment. But 
when the evangelist had made his return to 
the Methodist parsonage, the following dis- 
cussion took place: 

“How did you succeed with the teachers. 
Brother Dayton?” queried Rev. Towne. 

“Well, sir, sit right down here and I’ll tell 
you all about it in a nutshell. That man 
Jones attacks the Bible from a scientific 
standpoint, and finds all manner of fault 
wdth the Old Testament conception of God. 
Besides he points out many Bible contradic- 
tions for the purpose of showing that it is 
not an infallible book.” 

“How did he feel when you got through 
with him?” 

“I made no replies. Left him just as I 
150 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


found him. Promised to see them again to- 
morrow night.” 

“What can you tell them with regard to 
the scientific features of the Bible, Mr. Day- 
ton?” 

“Only thing I can do is to own up that the 
Bible is not a scientific book.” 

“What about God as represented in the 
Old Testament?” asked Mr. Towne. 

“He was no God at all”, came the prompt 
reply. 

“And what about the contradictions ?” 

“They’re there. Brother Towne, as you 
and I both know.” 

“Yes, but what are we going to do about 
the matter?” asked Rev. Towne. “By the 
way, does he attack the whole Bible or just 
the Old Testament?” 

“Just the Old Testament, Brother Towne. 
Now, if I myself return to explain the mat- 
ter to them, I shall own up that Mr. Jones’ 
position is well taken — that the Old Testa- 
151 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


merit is largely a man-made book. Higher 
criticism, as they call it, makes this the only 
tenable position.” 

“I thought, though. Brother Dayton,” 
replied Rev, Towne, half jokingly, “that 
you remarked onlj'’ last evening that you’d 
be glad to go to the young fellow’s relief, 
that you ‘just liked to get hold of such 
cases,’ ” 

“Brother Towne, I thought of Mr. Jones 
as a mere boy, as it were. It is seldom diffi- 
cult to answer youthful objections, you 
know. The churches nowadays depend al- 
most entirely upon nervous women and the 
children,” 

“But you found Jones pretty much of a 
man, did you. Brother Dayton?” 

“Must own up I did. But you know as 
well as I do. Brother Towne, that this 
‘Bible infallibility’ talk is all nonsense.” 

“You settle with Jones, Brother Dayton. 
Of course, if he had attacked the New Test- 
152 



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AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


ament too, he would have had to deal with 
me also. I’d never stand a minute for any 
reflection on the New Testament.” 


1.53 


CHAPTER XII. 


SECOND BATTLE 

As soon as the children were dismissed 
Tuesday evening and off the school grounds, 
Miss Ray opened the door leading to the 
other room. 

“I saw Mr. Dayton, the evangelist, across 
the street a few minutes ago headed for up 
town, Mr. Jones.” 

“He will soon be here, I presume,” replied 
Delbert. 

“Before he comes, I wish you would re- 
view briefly the points he is to explain,” 
said she. 

“We expect him to make it clear that the 
earth is only 6,000 years old, when science 
teaches that it is many millions; that God, 
to please a man by the name of Joshua, once 
154 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


caused the sun to stand still, which is scien- 
tifically absurd, to say the least; that God 
placed the rainbow in the sky as a seal to a 
certain promise, when science claims it is 
there in obedience to natural law. 

“He is also to explain that God once gave 
Moses a recipe for making perfumery; that 
God hardened Pharoah’s heart, and then 
punished him because he was mean ; that God 
once ordered Moses to lie and the Israelites 
to steal; that God in olden times endorsed 
polygamy and slavery; that it used to be 
common for Him to take sides in times of 
war; and that He instructed Jehu to mur- 
der all the house of Ahab. 

“And, not only this,” continued Delbert, 
“but that God made woman out of the rib 
of a man; that for seven years Nebuchad- 
nezzar fed on grass like an ox; and that 
Jonah remained uninjured for three days in 
the stomach of a big fish. 

“Of course. Miss Ray, I am not question- 
155 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


ing the power of God. I am questioning the 
probability of all sueh stories. Beeause God 
had power to do these things is not to say he 
did them. 

“But, in addition to this,” said Delbert, 
“Mr. Dayton should explain how, aceord- 
ing to an early passage of seripture, God 
tempted Abraham, while in a later passage 
it is said he never tempted anyone; how the 
earth is to abide forever, but aceording to a 
later passage is to be burned up; how Elijah 
went up into heaven, and later how no man 
ever ascended to heaven ; and how in Deuter- 
onomy a man saw God face to face, and 
still the statement be true in a later age that 
‘No man hath seen God at any time.’ ” 
“Well,” said Maytie, “the evangelist has 
a big job on his hands, but — ” 

“Just a minute. Miss Ray! 

“Come right in. Brother Dayton!” 

The evangelist had arrived. The teachers 
were cordial ; and Mr. Dayton, very smiling. 

156 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


Little unnecessary time, however, was spent 
on preliminaries. 

“These December days are short — the sun 
will soon be down. I presume we had best 
go right to our subject,” said the man in 
the long black coat. 

“Now, my dear young people, I presume 
I have in store for you something of a sur- 
prise. I presume you expect me to make 
some kind of reply to your question of last 
evening, but I shall do no such thing. The 
day is past when the Old Testament can he 
defended as a perfect book. But we have 
no need of defending it. Did not Christ say 
he came to fulfill the law — to make it full or 
complete? Did he not say, ‘Behold all 
things become new!’ No, my dear young 
people, the Old Testament is no longer 
binding on us except as it repeats itself in 
the New.” 

“Is that good iMethodist doctrine, Mr. 
Dayton?” inquired Maytie. 

157 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“It is a part of the unwritten doctrine of 
every church that is entitled to the respect 
of thinking people, Miss Ray,” the gentle- 
man replied. 

“But,” said Delbert, “I find these imper- 
fections reaching over into the New Testa- 
ment also. Brother Dayton. For instance: 

“With regard to the childhood of Jesus, 
you will recall that Luke says his parents 
took him to Jerusalem soon after his birth, 
and then to Nazareth in Galilee; while 
Matthew tells us that the parents took him 
immediately after his birth and the visit of 
the Magi down into Egypt. It was some 
time before they returned to Nazareth. Both 
accounts cannot possibly be true.” 

“I don’t just recall that point, Mr. Jones,” 
responded the evangelist, “but I shall look 
it up.” 

“Then, in Mark’s Gospel,” continued 
Delbert, “we find that Jesus went immedi- 
ately after his baptism into the wilderness, 
158 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


where he remained forty days. But John 
relates that on the third day after Jesus’ 
baptism, he attended a wedding in Cana of 
Galilee. Nothing is said about any wilder- 
ness or any temptation. Of course, one of 
these accounts must be false, for Jesus could 
not have been in two different places at 
the same time. 

“But, Mr. Dayton, if any record could 
have been kept straight, it seems to me that 
it might have been that short inscription on 
the cross. Although Matthew says these 
were the words, ‘This is Jesus, the King of 
the Jews; but Mark says, ‘The King of 
the Jews’; and Luke gives it, ‘This is the 
King of the Jews’; while John says it was, 
‘Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.’ 

“Now, Brother Dayton, what was the in- 
scription on the cross? Do you know? Do 
I know? Does anybody know? Four dif- 
ferent New Testament writers, familiar 
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AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


with the same language, tell us; but no two 
tell the same thing.” 

“But they are nearly enough agreed for 
all practical purposes, Mr. Jones,” spoke 
the reverend gentlemen. 

The short lull in the conversation gave 
Maytie an opportunity, which she did not 
neglect to use: 

“Mr. Dayton,” said she, “that isn’t the 
point. The question is one of reliability of 
scripture, that is, of accuracy or perfectness. 
Has God worded or safeguarded the word- 
ing of the New Testament so that we can 
depend upon it absolutely?” 

“Your question is pertinent. Miss Ray,” 
declared Mr. Dayton. “I will make note of 
it. I was much in hopes, however, that the 
New Testament might be kept out of the 
controversy.” 

“Brother Dayton,” resumed Delbert, “if 
the inscription on the cross could not be pre- 
served in correct form, it does seem that the 
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AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


Lord’s Prayer might have been. And yet, 
in all translations, Jesus is represented as 
telling his people to ask God not to lead 
them into temptation. ‘Our Father, . . . 

lead us not into temptation,’ reads the 
prayer. We should not presume to know 
what were best for God to do. He is wiser 
than we. If God leads us into temptation, 
he does it for a purpose, and we should not 
tell him to stop; and if he does not lead us 
into temptation, why, that portion of the 
prayer is not only superfluous but a positive 
insult to God as a father. 

“Then, too. Brother Dayton,” continued 
Delbert, “in the Sermon on the Mount, 
Jesus is represented as saying, ‘If any man 
will sue thee at the law, and take away thy 
coat, let him have thy cloke also.’ To pur- 
sue this sort of course, Mr. Dayton, might 
be to plunge a man and his whole family in- 
to destitution and suffering. No one but a 
crazy man would do such a thing. Rev. 

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AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


Dayton, and I’ll warrant Jesus never said it! 

“And again,” continued Delbert, “Jesus 
is represented in that same sermon as say- 
ing: ‘Lay not up for yourselves treasures 
upon earth, . . . for where your treas- 
ure is, there will be your heart also. . . . 

If God clothe the grass of the field, which 
to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, 
shall he not much more clothe you? . . . 

Therefore, take no thought, saying what 
shall we eat? or what shall we drink? or 
wherewithal shall we be clothed? . . .for 

your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have 
need of all these things. Take, therefore, no 
thought for the morrow.’ Would it do. Rev. 
Dayton, for you ministers to teach the mem- 
bers of your churches to live from ‘hand to 
mouth’ — to spend their money as fast they 
make it — to save nothing for old age or a 
rainy day? Would such advice be good 
advice? Well, then, let us not teach people 
that Jesus ever said such a thing. It’s an 
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AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


insult! It is one of those defective records, 
Rev. Dayton. At best, it is not safe to use 
such symbols in discussing religion with 
occidental minds. 

“Here is the trouble. Brother Dayton,” 
continued Delbert, “we do not know exactly 
what words were on the cross; or exactly 
what was the Lord’s Prayer as he prayed it ; 
or exactly what were lots of the things 
spoken in those early days. What was 
spoken in Old Testament times was wTitten 
down in languages crude and imperfect. 
The copying that was done, and the trans- 
lations that were made were likewise unre- 
liable. Even what Jesus said was not writ- 
ten down at all until a generation after his 
death. How, then, could we hope to have 
an infallible Bible?” 

“I shall have to talk with Brother Towne 
about this matter, Mr. Jones,” said the evan- 
gelist, “before deciding just what to say to 
you and Miss Ray.” 


163 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“But,” Delbert went on, “there is too much 
good in the Bible to throw it all away, and 
too much bad to teach it all as the pure word 
of God.” 

“You do, then, own up that there is lots of 
good in the Bible, do you, Mr. Jones?” 
asked the evangelist as if a little surprised. 

“Where would you go,” resumed Delbert, 
“to find better advice than the following, 
given by Jesus himself: 

“ ‘Ye have heard that it hath been said, 
and eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 
but I say unto you, love your enemies, bless 
them that curse you, do good to them that 
hate you, and pray for them that despite- 
fully use you, and persecute you. For if ye 
love them which love you, what reward have 
ye. Do not even the publicans the same? 
And if ye salute your brethren only, what 
do ye more than others.’ 

“Then Jesus re-states the Golden Rule: 

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AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


‘Whatsoever ye would that men should do 
to you, do ye even so to them.’ 

“To those who would be religious, here is 
what Jesus has to say: ‘Blessed are they 
which do hunger and thirst after righteous- 
ness ; for they shall be filled.’ ‘Ask,’ he says, 
‘and it shall be given unto you ; seek, and ye 
shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto 
you.’ What man is there of you, whom if 
his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? 
Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent. 
If ye, then, being evil, know how to give 
good gifts unto your children, how much 
more shall your Father which is in heaven 
give good thmgs to them that ask him?’ 

“Then, Brother Dayton, recall that beau- 
tiful parable of the lost sheep. Jesus tells 
us how much joy it brings to heaven for us 
to establish right relations with God. Note 
the figure and note the language : 

“ ‘What man of you, having a hundred 
sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave 
165 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go 
after that which is lost, until he find it? And 
when he hath found it, he layeth it on his 
shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh 
home, he calleth together his friends and 
neighbors, sajdng unto them, rejoice with 
me; for I have found my sheep which was 
lost! I say unto you, that likewise joy shall 
be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, 
more than over ninety and nine just per- 
sons, which need no repentance,’ 

“God, in the teaching of Jesus, is so often 
referred to as' the Father, and we as his 
children. This great family idea is beau- 
tiful. Notice in the parable of the prodigal 
son how Jesus plans for the return of the 
Prodigal to his father. To me this is one of 
the most attractive things in the Bible: 

“ ‘And he said, a certain man had two 
sons: and the younger of them said to his 
father, father give me the portion of goods 
that falleth to me. And he divided unto 
166 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


them his living. And not many days after, 
the younger son gathered all together, and 
took his journey unto a far country, and 
there wasted his substance in riotous living. 
And when he had spent all, there arose a 
mighty famine in that land; and he began 
to be in want. And he went and joined 
himself to a citizen of that country; and he 
sent him unto his fields to feed swine. And 
he fain would have filled his belly with the 
husks that the swine did eat; and no man 
gave unto him. And when he came to him- 
self, he said, how many hired servants of 
my father’s have bread enough and to spare, 
and I perish with hunger! I will arise and 
go to my father, and I will say unto him, 
father, I have sinned against heaven, and 
before thee, and am no more worthy to be 
called thy son. Make me as one of thy 
hired servants. And he arose and came to 
his father. But when he was yet a great way 
off, his father saw him, and had compassion, 
167 


AWAKENIXG OF LESTERVILLE 


and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. 
And the son said unto him, father I have 
sinned against heaven and in thy sight, and 
am no more worthy to be called thy son. 
But the father said to his servants, bring 
forth the best robe, and put it on him; and 
put a ring on his hand and shoes on his feet: 
and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; 
and let us eat, and be merry : for this my son 
was dead, and is alive again; he was lost 
and is found. And they began to be merry.’ 

“In Romans, Paul tells us how that even 
death cannot separate us from the love of 
God: 

■“ ‘For I am persuaded that neither death, 
Tior life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor 
powers, nor things present, nor things to 
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other 
creature, shall be able to separate us from 
the love of God.’ 

“And, Brother Dayton, we might go on 
indefinitely with beautiful quotations from 
168 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


the New Testament, for that splendid little 
volume abounds with gems of thought from 
JMatthew to Revelation. But if I have made 
you to feel that I always approach the 
Bible, our mother’s favorite book, in rever- 
ent attitude to separate as best I can the 
beautiful from the ugly, the true from the 
false, the God-honoring from the God-dis- 
gracing, I have realized no small part of my 
purpose; and, Mr. Dayton, be assured that 
I have placed in your hands the arguments 
of thousands of thoughtful people who 
maintain that the Bible is not, as sectarian 
preachers say, an absolutely perfect or in- 
fallible book.” 

“I have sufficient notes and references to 
reproduce your entire criticism of the New 
Testament, Mr. Jones. Brother Towne and 
I will take your arguments under considera- 
tion, and I should be pleased to get this dis- 
cussion settled. Would you object to my 
bringing Brother Towne along vdth me to- 
169 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


morrow evening? He will want to come, I 
am sure.” 

“What do you say. Miss Ray?” inquired 
Delbert. 

“I have no objections, of course, Mr. 
Jones,” said Miss Maytie. 

“Have him come. Brother Dayton ! Have 
him come! Certainly!” 

At this, the evangelist bade the teachers a 
friendly good night and departed. Miss 
Ray, however, tarried a little to ask a ques- 
tion: 

“What topic, Mr. Jones, would cover all 
the objections you have brought up in your 
talks with Mr. Dayton?” 

“You understand, of course. Miss Ray, 
that I have not attacked Christianity, only 
its text-book. I have insisted, along with 
our best Biblical scholars, that the Bible is 
not God’s word cover to cover — that it is 
not a perfect or infallible book.” 

“Might the impression get out in the com- 
170 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


munity that you are an infidel, Mr. Jones?” 
asked Maytie with some regretfulness in her 
tone of voice. 

“Not if the ministers are fair,” replied 
Delbert assuringly. “I have found no fault 
whatever with Christianity, just with this 
infallibility talk about the Bible.” 

“Mr. Dayton bows gracefully to your 
criticism of the Old Testament, but in at- 
tacking even the few things you have in the 
New, I fear you are on dangerous ground. 
I expect trouble now. Don’t you?” 

“Not from Mr. Dayton. Rev. Towne, 
though, may have a fit. We shall soon find 
out.” 

* * * 

Mr. Dayton went straight to the home of 
David Brown, with whom he was to stop 
for a few days; and, on arriving, immedi- 
ately arranged over the ’phone for a con- 
ference after supper with Rev. Towne. 
Their talk necessarily was brief on account 
171 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


of the evening services at the church. When 
Rev. Towne called, his first question was: 

“What did the teachers tliink, Bro. 
Dayton, of our confession that the Old Test- 
ament is not a perfect book?” 

“Miss Ray wanted to know if that was 
good Methodist doctrine,” said the evange- 
list. 

“What did you tell her?” 

“I told her that it was a part of the un- 
written doctrine of every church that is en- 
titled to the respect of thinking people. But 
that man Jones lit into the New Testament 
also.” 

“Just what I was afraid of. Brother 
Dayton. Isn’t the New Testament enough 
better than the Old that he could afford to 
leave that alone?” 

“Jones won’t leave anything alone that 
is pronounced perfect when it is not.” 

“What did he attack?” 

“He pointed out New Testament con- 
172 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


tradictions with regard to the childhood of 
Jesus; contradictions with regard to the 
movements of Christ after his baptism ; con- 
tradictions with regard to the inscription on 
the cross; and found fault with the Lord’s 
Prayer where we are told to ask God not to 
lead us into temptation. He also insisted 
that Jesus is falsely reported in the sermon 
on the mount, where he says we should have 
no thought for the morrow.” 

“Well, I’ll see that fellow,” said Rev. 
Towne with some indignation, “and give 
him a piece of my mind. A man that won’t 
stand hy the New Testament has no busi- 
ness in decent society!” 

“I have their consent for you to accom- 
pany me to the school building to-morrow 
evening to get this thing settled. You may 
be spokesman,” responded Mr. Dayton. 

“Good enough! Don’t know what I’ll 
say,” said the Methodist preacher, “but I’ll 
173 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILI.E 


let them down with a bump they’ll remem- 
ber!” 

“It’s safe enough for you to talk that way 
now, Brother Towne. You’ll have till to- 
morrow night to ehange your mind. Jones 
is on safe ground. You’ll have to baek down 
the same as I did.” 

“Come now, Brother Dayton, what is 
there for us preaehers to do about this 
matter?” 

“Just get honest,” came the reply. 

“But the people at large, Bro. Dayton, 
will say if part of the Bible is mistranslated 
it is aU mistranslated.” 

“Nonsense!” 

“What do you think of that Jones, Bro. 
Dayton?” 

“I should not be surprised if he’s a splen- 
did Christian man — better by far then any 
of us sectarian preachers, at any rate! With 
us a thing is all good or all bad, and pro- 
ceeds from God or else the Devil. With 
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AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


us, when a man dies he goes either high up 
to Heaven or down to Hell. We’re ex- 
tremists. If we happen to have a little sense, 
Bro. Towne, we’re mighty careful not to 
use it. If our best judgment condemns the 
least thing in the scriptiue, we are sure to 
call it the voice of the Devil, and condemn it 
on the spot! 

‘As leaders in religion, Bro. Towne, we 
are anything but progressive,” continued the 
evangelist. “We hail with delight any im- 
provement in politics or government or edu- 
cation. We go into raptures over improve- 
ments in architecture and machinery and 
means of travel like the electric car, the auto- 
mobile, and the airship. But, listen! Let 
any one rise up and tell us that our Bible and 
our religion should be improved, and let him 
make it ever so convincing, even, and we 
want to hang the fellow right off. Isn’t it 
strange? 

“If religion were not divinely implanted 
175 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


in human nature, Bro. Town,” concluded 
the evangelist, with all the emphasis he could 
command, “preachers would have rooted it 
up and destroyed it centuries ago, for surely 
they have always made themselves genuine- 
ly ridiculous in the presence of men and 
women who think, and you and I are follow- 
ing along in the same old beaten paths.” 


176 


CHAPTER XIII. 

A LITTLE SCHEME 

Yes, it is true that an old-time reAdval 
meeting was on in Lesterville, and that 
clashes had already occurred between the 
evangelist employed hy the Methodist 
church and the two teachers of the village. 

Next morning on his way to school, Del- 
bert Jones, teacher of the upper grades, was 
overtaken by one of his pupils. Frank 
White had heard his father tell at the break- 
fast table that morning how, the evening 
before, the janitor had exposed the secrets 
of the meetings between the evangelist and 
the teachers. Frank told Mr. Jones all about 
it. It seems that the janitor had come up 
out of the basement Monday after school 
with broom in hand to do his work, when he 
heard a strange voice in INIr. Jones’ room. 

177 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


He remained out in the hall and took in 
everything. Then Tuesday he did the same 
thing, and in the evening after supper went 
down to Pratt’s store, where he told a lot of 
men all about it, declaring that Mr. Jones 
and Miss Ray had “put it all over the evan- 
gelist.” 

Most of the men who had gathered in the 
store at that early evening hour were either 
church members or church goers, and were 
on their way to the revival services. They 
were struck as with a club. It was now a 
matter of only a few hours when everybody 
in the whole surrounding country would 
learn of this “unfortunate event.” What 
effect would this have on the revival? How 
would the yoimg people of the community 
and the children of the school feel? These 
were things for the ministers to think about, 
and they were things for the teachers to 
think about also. Too bad education and 
religion cannot agree. 

178 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


But Rev. Towne, the Methodist minister, 
had by this time made up his mind that he 
would not let the teachers down with so big 
a bump after all. He had compared Luke’s 
account of the childhood of Jesus with 
Matthew’s account. He knew as well as 
Delbert that they did not agree. He had 
also compared Mark’s account of the move- 
ments of Jesus after his baptism with that 
of John. Here, too, was a discrepancy. 
Then Rev. Towne referred to Matthew, 
Mark, Luke and John for the inscription on 
the cross, and found that no two agreed. He 
also bethought himself as to how utterly un- 
wise it would be to advise people to “have 
no thought for the morrow.” And again 
he got to thinking about the Lord’s Prayer. 
God does not lead men into temptation, 
thought he. But if God does, he does it 
for a purpose, and we should not ask him to 
cease to do what he knows is best. The 
Lord’s Prayer cannot, therefore, be the 
179 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


exact words of Jesus. Yes, Rev. Towne had 
fully given up the idea of “letting the teach- 
ers down with a bump they’d remember.” 

The Methodist minister went to the evan- 
gelist in the morning the first thing after 
breakfast, and after some discussion they 
decided to do two things. First, they 
would own up that the Old Testament and 
the New are alike imperfect; and, second, 
they would draw the Baptist preacher into 
the controversy if they could, so that he 
would have to take a share of the blame for 
the defeat, which they felt sure was coming. 
But how was this to be done? Now, May tie 
Ray was from a Baptist home, and Rev. 
Black was her mother’s pastor. Common 
courtesy would, under the circumstances, re- 
quire Rev. Towne and Mr. Dayton to invite 
Rev. Black to be present and to take a hand 
in defending the text-book of the Christian 
faith against the onslaughts of Mr. Jones 
and the widow’s daughter. What more 
180 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


graceful way was needed to aj)proach Rev. 
Black ? 

While the evangelist and Rev. Towne 
would not have cared to share with the Bap- 
tist minister in victory, they were more than 
willing to share with him in defeat. And, 
not knowing the exact status of the debate. 
Rev, Black was easily induced to take a 
hand. He had heard that morning some- 
thing of the “obstinacy,” as he called it, of 
the teachers, and was greatly provoked at 
them, and really longed to do what Rev. 
Towne had given up doing, that is, to “let 
the teachers down with a bump they’d re- 
member.” Rev. Black accordingly prom- 
ised the other two men that he would be 
chief defender of the faith that evening, 
and his righteous indignation at the situation 
was so aroused that he had to call Maytie 
Ray up by ’phone at noon to tell her what 
was going to happen. Somehow we cannot 
help thinking he did it largely out of hope 
181 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


of intimidating Miss Ray and causing her to 
keep out of the argument that evening. 
But, if that were his purpose, he did not suc- 
ceed. 

When school was out at four. May tie 
went in to see Delbert and tell him what 
had transpired at noon. 

“Mr. Jones, I want to tell you some- 
thing,” began Maytie. “Brother Black 
called me up by ’phone this noon.” 

“Has he been hearing something?” 

“All about itl” replied Miss Ray. 

“How does he feel?” 

“He’s on the war-path, and so is Rev. 
Towne. I don’t know how the evangelist 
feels. Wouldn’t be surprised if all three of 
those preachers are after us to-night. That’s 
all right, though,” continued Maytie. “I 
think it’s time some of these things were 
settled. If they have anything to say, let 
them say it.” 

“Brave girl. Miss Ray! Why, we may 
both be slaughtered to-night!” 

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AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“That’s all right, Mr. Jones. I’m glad 
we’ve got those old dead-heads stirred up. 
Nothing less than a real explosion will 
waken the preachers in this town. Now, 
don’t you scold the janitor, either.” 

“My, but you’ve got your fighting gar- 
ments on this afternoon, haven’t you?” 

“I don’t care, Mr. Jones. I’ve been try- 
ing for four or five years to get Brother 
Black to give me the why and wherefore of 
some of the things in the Bible, but he always 
has some sarcastic or humorous way to evade 
my questions. If he comes over this even- 
ing, I hope you’ll get right after him. Yes, 
I do; and I’ll help you, too. I believe he’s 
an old hypocrite; and I don’t believe Rev. 
Towne’s any better.” 

“My, but you’re hard on the preachers 
this evening,” said Delbert. 

“Well, may be I am. But I’ve reasons to 
be,” replied May tie. 

“Now, if you’re feeling a whole lot bet- 
183 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


ter, Miss Ray, I’m glad; but really you’re 
awful!” And the way Delbert looked at her 
made her wonder if they did not already 
have something more than friendly regard 
for each other. 


184 


CHAPTER XIV. 


BLACK TAKES A HAND 

“There, didn’t I tell you,” said Maytie, 
looking out of the window. 

“Tell me what?” asked Delbert. 

“That all three of the ministers would 
probably come to-night.” 

“I expected them all myself,” replied Del- 
bert. “Mr. Dayton asked me this noon if it 
would be all right to bring Rev. Black 
along. And what do you think? Mr. Day- 
ton told me that he and Rev. Towne are both 
satisfied that no one can defend the Bible as 
an infallible book.” 

“Well, then, why do they come again to- 
night?” 

“Just to give Rev. Black a share in the 
controversy, it seems. The evangelist in- 
185 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


quired if I hadn’t something further I’d just 
as soon ask the Baptist minister to explain.” 

‘What did you tell him, Mr. Jones?” 

“I told him I’d like to discuss the princi- 
ples of the Christian religion with some one, 
just for my own personal good.” 

“Take care now!” said Maytie. 

“I just want to reason a little about it, 
just as we do about other things. If I’m 
entertaining some wrong ideas, I want to be 
rid of them.” 

Several voices in the hall now told the 
teachers that the ministers were on hand. 
The greeting was as cordial as if nothing had 
eyer happened or was ever going to happen. 
After a few general remarks had gone the 
rounds and all had taken seats, the Baptist 
preacher began : 

“Isn’t this religious controversy proving a 
mere waste of time, Mr. Jones? Would it 
not be wise to drop the matter right here and 
now?” 


186 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“May be you are right, Rev. Black. I 
have not forced this controversy on you min- 
isters. It is Rev. Towne’s doings that it was 
started. The other ministers and knyself 
have already discussed some very important 
matters, and they have decided that the Bible 
is not an infallible book, and now you may 
explain a few things to me about the Christ- 
ian religion, if you desire.” 

“What’s that, young man? What’s that 
you say?” ejaculated Rev. Black. 

“Now, let us not dig up the past,” spoke 
the evangelist. “Let us look to the new 
question!” 

“I say. Brother Black, that if you desire 
you may explain to me something about the 
Christian religion.” 

“Well, sir, I’ve studied it and preached it 
for a good many years. I will try to answer 
your questions, but I didn’t quite understand 
what you said about the Bible!” 

“We will take up the main thread of the 
187 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


Bible presently,” said Delbert to prevent a 
wrangle. 

“But we won’t have time to review any- 
thing, Mr. Jones,” said Rev. Towne. “Let’s 
press forward and get done.” 

“Brother Black,” began Delbert, “your 
religion begins with the creation of the 
world. It is part of the Christian doctrine 
that the world was made in six days. But 
scientists tell us it was millions of years in 
the making, and thinking people everywhere 
are coming to believe it. Indeed, nearly all 
ministers now accept their explanation.” 

“I know it, young man. I know it. But 
you forget that the Bible says, ‘A day with 
the Lord is as a thousand years’ ” 

“But, Brother Black,” said Delbert, 
“would not that explanation lead to mons- 
trous blunders in the reading of Holy Writ? 
Wouldn’t that make the Sabbath day, 
wherever mentioned in the Bible, a thou- 
sand years long, too? The eighth command- 
188 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


ment would then have to be explained, “Re- 
member the Sabbath thousand years to keep 
them holy!” The preacher was non-plussed, 
and looked so foolish that Miss Ray, who 
knew him well, could scarcely refrain from 
smiling. The other ministers began already 
to scent defeat for their Baptist brother, and 
to have the assurance that the community 
would not, at the end of the controversy, 
have the laugh on the Methodists any more 
than on the Baptists. And this is what they 
wanted. 

“Well, go on, young man,” said Rev. 
Black, “I’d never thought of that before!” 

“Then the old story of Adam and the 
Garden of Eden does not appeal to me,” 
continued Delbert. “Christianity teaches 
that God in the beginning made a perfect 
man and a perfect paradise for his home. 
But science in the last half century has been 
teaching that man and all other forms of 
189 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


life began in almost inconceivable simplicity 
of organization.” 

And Delbert proceeded to the next step in 
the story. 

“Christianity teaches, Elder Black, that 
Adam, this perfect man, proceeded at once 
to disobey his Creator. I believe. Elder, in 
freedom of choice and freedom of will — 
that any man has power both to choose and 
to do wrong. But the fact that Adam, 
God’s first human product, chose the wrong 
and did the wrong, compels me to suspect 
that he was not made perfect in the first 
place. Perfect people do not choose to dis- 
obey God, unless we agree to change the 
meaning of the word perfect.” 

“Well,” said Elder Black, “I am not able 
to answer your objection, Mr. Jones. I don’t 
understand, though, that Christianity is a re- 
ligion of either reason or science anyway; 
but a religion of faith.” 

“But,” retorted Maytie Ray with some 
190 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


emphasis, “How are we to have faith in such 
absurd things, Brother Black — things that 
look so extremely improbable?” The Elder 
shook his head a little, and the other preach- 
ers had to grin. 

“Let us for the sake of argument, 
though,” said Delbert, “suppose that Adam 
was a perfect man and that he did sin. Then 
we are brought face to face with the prin- 
ciples of ‘transmission of sin’ and ‘fall of 
man.’ But I must maintain. Elder Black, 
that if Adam sinned, it is Adam who should 
have paid for it, and not the race for Adam. 
That is not just; and God, we are told, is a 
just God. To inherit a physical defect or a 
tendency to some particular sin is bad 
enough. Elder, but to think that God will- 
ingly passes other men’s sins down to us and 
charges them to our account as personal of- 
fenses against himself is to allow ourselves 
to think something dreadfully bad about 
God. This step in the Christian doctrine, 
191 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


this ‘transmission of sin’ and ‘fall of man’ 
idea, is even more absurd than the one about 
‘original sin.’ Indeed, modern science makes 
it clear to those who will study the question 
that the fall of man has constantly been a 
fall upward. Elder Black, and not down- 
w'ard. History, too, as far back as records 
go, testifies to the same thing — that man 
has always been on the upward grade, al- 
ways rising. There is less slavery, less war, 
less highway robbery, and fewer hard and 
cruel hearts in the world every century. 
Yes, ever since history began, at any rate, 
the world has been getting better. And I 
see nothing to indicate we ever had a ‘fall.’ 
There is certainly more transmission of 
righteousness, so to speak, in the world to- 
day than transmission of sin, if we are to 
believe historic records.” 

“I think, Mr. Jones,” said Elder Black, 
“that if you will study men a little closer, 
you’ll find them very low and fallen.” 

192 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Not fallen^ Rev. Black,” said Delbert, 
“but incompleter 

“Just think, Mr. Jones, of the mean 
things men do.” 

“Yes, and the good things, too. Elder 
Black. There’s more good in the average 
man than bad — more saint than sinner. 
While he sometimes stoops to things very 
low, he often rises to things almost divine.” 

“As you recall your neighbors,” said 
Maytie, “and the people in general wherever 
you have lived. Brother Black, do you recall 
as many bad people as good, or as many 
cruel acts as kind acts?” 

“I must confess, Maytie,” said her moth- 
er’s pastor, “that I don’t.” 

“Well, then, why do you call man ‘fal- 
len?’ Is it because you like to find fault 
with him? Would it not be better to call 
him ‘incomplete’?” 

“May be you young folks look at this mat- 
ter in a fairer w^ay than we preachers do, 
193 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


with our distorted ideas and prejudiced no- 
tions.” 

“Now, Elder Black,” said Delbert, “you 
see we have taken up the main thread of 
the Bible, as we said we would. It is the 
story of the Christian religion with its large 
inheritance from Judaism, and it is the Ju- 
daistic element that higher Christianity re- 
jects. We have already referred briefly (1) 
to the creation of the world, (2) to original 
sin, (3) to the transmission of sin, and (4) 
to the fall of man. 

“To follow up the old Hebrew story, we 
find that God was displeased with Adam’s 
descendants because Adam had sinned; and 
that God kept his back on them, as it were, 
for nearly two thousand years. He finally 
became so disgusted that he caused a flood to 
come and cover the earth, that he might 
‘destroy all flesh.’ But the Good Book says 
that Noah found favor with God and builded 
a great ark into which he took his family and 
194 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


a pair of every living creature on the face of 
the earth, that there might be something left 
with which to begin life again after the flood 
was over. Just imagine God pouting around 
for two thousand years, when he, being all- 
wise, knew all the time that his work was a 
failure anyway. How foolish! 

“But, Brother Black, mathematical 
science condemns the account of the flood. 
Mathematicians have flgured it out from the 
dimensions of the ark, as given in the Bible, 
that there was not enough room for a pair 
of ‘every living creature.’ 

“Here, though, to my mind,” continued 
Delbert, “is the greatest absurdity of all: 
namely, that God should allow Noah and his 
children to be saved from the flood to start 
the race again. Brother Black, Noah was a 
descendant of Adam, who had sinned, and a 
member of a fallen race. Why did not God 
begin afresh with better stock if he wanted 
the race to be any better after the flood than 
195 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


before? for the flood experiment was a fail- 
ure, we are told. 

“No, gentlemen,” said Delbert with much 
stress as he eyed all three of the preachers, 
“creation of the world in six days; original 
sin; transmission of sin; fall of man; two 
thousand years of patience on the part of 
God, who knew all the while that man was a 
miserable failure anyway ; a fruitless drown- 
ing of his own children ; and the re-peopling 
of the earth with the same old sin-cursed 
stock is a wicked charge to make against 
an all- wise God. Don’t you think so? 

“Superstition, however, keeps this old He- 
brew- Christian doctrine alive; but the edu- 
cated few tolerate it only to escape social 
ostracism or commercial disadvantage.” 

“Then, Mr. Jones, you do not believe in 
Christianity, I see,” said Rev. Black. 

“Not in the Hebrew end of it, as I might 
say,” replied Delbert ; “and not in the errors 
it has acquired in translation; and not in its 
196 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


wise theological accretions. I do believe, 
however, in the latter portion, or Jesus end, 
of that old doctrine, as it were — in the re- 
ligion of Jesus, as I see and understand 
that religion. But Jesus himself would not 
be a Christian if he lived to-day.” 

“What, Jones!” ejaculated all three 
ministers, “Christ not a Christian!” 

“You have my meaning, gentlemen. You 
must understand there is a vast difference 
between the plain Nazarene leading his un- 
designing countrymen, and the fashionable 
preacher of to-day palavering over a con- 
gregation of extortioners or their beneficiar- 
ies ; a vast difference, too, between the simple 
religion of Jesus, and the Christianity of to- 
day with eighty-seven conflicting denomina- 
tions.” 

At this point came a lull in the conversa- 
tion. The face of each minister was a study. 
The few minutes of quiet which followed 
marked the final conversion of one of the 
197 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


ministers, who for several days had been 
bringing himself to see that the only religion 
for a progressive age like ours is one which 
will appeal to the intellectual as well as the 
emotional side of human nature, and one 
which will not rob the individual of the right 
to think for himself. 

“Brother Dayton,” began Elder Black, 
“you are traveling about a great deal as an 
evangelist. What do you think of this yoimg 
man’s ideas? Do you think he knows more 
than the Bible and more than God Al- 
mighty?” 

Rev. Dayton saw from his down-cast eyes 
a.nd the flush on his face that Delbert Jones 
was suffering keenly from this unkind cut, 
and righteous indignation possessed the 
evangelist, who had this to say: 

“I think. Rev. Black, that this man Jones 
is just about as big as a ten acre field of men 
like yourself. In his language, he certainly 
manifests Christian character, and that is 
198 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


more than I can say for you. When a min- 
ister has no argument with which to answer 
a thinking man,” continued the evangelist 
looking sharply at the Baptist preacher, “he 
too often hurls back an insult like the one 
you did ; but those words, ‘he thinks he knows 
more than the Bible and God Almighty him- 
self,’ are only a saucy acknowledgment of 
defeat; for it is based upon the assumption, 
yes, the assumption, that the Bible is God’s 
word cover to cover, when we have been as- 
suming no such thing in these discussions. 
Mr. Jones has tried. Elder Black, hon- 
estly, politely, and successfully, I think, 
to show us that many things are in the Bible 
which God never had anything to do with. 
Of course, he has relied on science, reason, 
and common sense, without taking anything 
for granted. But no man is to be condemned 
for resorting to the reason power which God 
gave him, and refusing to be influenced by 
assumptions and superstitions. 

199 


AWAKEXIXG OF LESTERVILLE 


“Yes, Rev. Black, my work as an evange- 
list takes me into five or six different states. 
And I must say that it’s nowadays almost an 
impossibility to persuade a calm, thoughtful 
man or woman to join any of these denomi- 
national churches — for my work, you under- 
stand, is with many Christian sects. In fact, 
few such people Avill attend revival meetings 
at all. Of course, we get quite a harvest of 
nervous women, and a number of children 
who do not understand the step they are 
:taking. 

“But we are wasting lots of valuable 
time. Rev. Black, in trying to get people to 
^accept the nonsensical parts of our religion 
— the ‘six-day-creation’ argument, and the 
‘original-sin’ idea, and ‘transmission of sin,’ 
and ‘fall of man,’ and ‘trinity,’ and ‘eternal 
hell,’ and a lot of other arguments just as 
unnecessary and just as unreasonable and 
just as hard to pound into the heads of 
thinking people. 


200 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“What civilization is suffering for to-day, 
gentlemen, is a religion in keeping with the 
growth of knowledge. The world is becom- 
ing wiser and constantly more distrustful of 
the extravagant stories in the Bible. Truly 
enough, the time was when nothing but mi- 
raculous claims would appeal to the people. 
But that time is past. Men of culture now- 
adays insist that God is constantly in har- 
monious relation with this universe of his, 
and that he does not violate his own laws 
to make men distrustful. God wants men to 
be religious, and will assist, not hinder. The 
miracles of the Bible may have been helpful 
and necessary in their time, but they are now 
a positive impediment to religious progress. 
Just look at what is transpiring in Europe 
to-day!” 

“But, Brother Dayton,” inquired Elder 
Towne in a sort of discouraged attitude, 
“what is to be saved from these storms which 
are becoming so common these days?” 

201 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Lots! All we need and all we want and 
all we can defend as honest men. But let 
Mr. Jones answer that question for you in 
the near future. After having had a private 
talk with him at Mr. Buff’s, I have utmost 
faith in Mr. Jones. 

“As for myself,” concluded Mr. Dayton, 
“I shall continue to. labor as an evangelist. 
But I shall try to preach, from now on, noth- 
ing but good sound sense, realizing, in the 
words of a great present-day divine, that 
‘The wings of error have borne down upon 
them through countless ages great and inde- 
structible religious truths.’ ” 


202 


CHAPTER XV. 


DAYTON NEXT MOENING 

Next morning, after an early breakfast. 
Reverend Dayton chanced to meet Delbert 
Jones in the postoffice. 

“There’s one other matter which I should 
like to talk with you about, Mr. Jones, when 
it is convenient.” 

“Suppose, then, we go right over to my 
room,” replied Delbert. It was only a few 
moments till the two men were comfortably 
seated in Delbert’s quarters at William 
Buff’s. 

“I am not able to imderstand, Mr. Jones, 
how you could pass through those ques- 
tioning years at high school, and four more 
at the university, where so many liberal ideas 
have made their way, and aU the while retain 

your orthodox faith.” 

203 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Simply by giving a deaf ear to what was 
being said,” replied Delbert, “and not allow- 
ing myself to reason. I was holding onto 
the religion my mother had taught me. 
Don’t you know that lots of people after a 
fashion compel themselves to believe things 
— just force their assent when their better 
judgment is all the while rebelling?” 

“But what caused you to let go of your 
faith while attending a theological school, 
that is, so much of your faith?” 

“To answer your question in plain Eng- 
lish, Mr. Dayton, it was the insincerity which 
1 found to exist in the Christian ministry, 
more than anything else. Many of the 
students in my classes at the seminary main- 
tained that, if the truth were known, preach- 
ers themselves were becoming lax in faith; 
and I desired to learn at first hand just the 
attitude of the active ministry to the pro- 
fession they made. If I had a reconstruction 
period to face in my own religion, I thought 
204 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


it high time to begin. So, what did I do but 
take a position the next summer with a pub- 
lishing house to sell reference books in the 
small towns of Michigan, I took up this 
work very largely in order to meet and talk 
with ministers. Of course, it required some 
explanation, and some confession, and much 
tact, in many instances, to get these village 
ministers to express frankly their sincere or 
innermost thoughts.” 

“How many did you interview that sum- 
mer, Mr. Jones?” 

“There were eleven in all; and really and 
truly, Mr. Dayton, there were but two of 
those eleven ministers who believed in full 
the things they were preaching and the doc- 
trines they’d pledged themselves to support. 

“One of those two was a Free Methodist 
with just enough education barely to read 
the Bible. The other was a Campbellite, 
who, a few years previous, had quit one 
of the building trades to preach. I think he 
205 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


had been a carpenter, though I am not cer- 
tain.” 

“How about the other nine, Mr. Jones?” 

“Three of the others wouldn’t talk enough 
to justify me in drawing any definite con- 
clusion. They M^ere honest enough not to 
lie, and shrewd enough to dodge my ques- 
tions, which I would never press because I 
was a stranger. As I have since learned, 
however, they were experiencing what I 
have had to experience, that is, a recon- 
struction of faith. 

“This leaves six, I believe,” said Delbert. 

“Yes,” replied Rev. Dayton. 

“Well, those six all belonged to the same 
class. They were not all equally guilty of 
insincerity, however. One man, a jolly good 
fellow, occupied a Congregational pulpit, 
but was preaching all sorts of liberal ideas 
in plain unmistakable language. I heard 
this man at a morning service. In fact, I 
heard nearly all the eleven ministers preach 
206 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


to whom I refer. After church, I tarried a 
little to scold the fellow. 

“ ‘How dare you talk so in a Congrega- 
tional pulpit?’ is the way I began on him. 
He just laughed heartily and remarked, ‘O, 
my people here let me say what I please.’ 
The only fault to find in this case, Mr. Day- 
ton, is the fact that the words ‘Congrega- 
tional Church’ were posted on the outside. 
But this is fault enough. This is hypocrisy. 

“The next minister of this last group was 
.supposed to be a Baptist. But he, too, was 
preaching just what he pleased. A few 
months later I learned that he was prac- 
tically asked to resign. And I don’t blame 
his congregation; and he didn’t blame them 
either. This man, too, was as jolly a fellow 
as one could wish to meet. I had a way to tell 
him, though, that he was guilty of hypo- 
crisy, and he had a way to own up. He was 
with some liberal congregation the last I 
heard of him — just M'here be belonged. 

207 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“The next minister, Mr. Dayton, I found 
in his study in the back of his church, I 
went to him for some explanations, but he 
frankly told me that what I wanted ex- 
plained was not capable of explanation, and 
assured me in very emphatic terms that the 
Christian religion is not a religion of reason 
anyway, but of faith. His last statement was, 
‘Young man, if I’d reason about my religion 
for fifteen minutes my faith would all leave 
me.’ I believe he was a good man at heart, 
but was compelling himself to uphold some 
things in the creed of his church which he did 
not believe at the time himself. 

“Another one of these ministers, I met in 
the hotel office in his own town one Saturday 
afternoon, I shall never forget him. He 
was as cultured and refined as any man I 
ever met. But, O my ! In our private talk, 
how he did rail against many of the cardinal 
points in the doctrine of his church! The 
next morning, at 10 :30, I heard him preach. 

208 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


But I could hardly make myself believe it 
was the same man with whom I had talked, 
so tenderly did he handle that nice little 
orthodox sermon of his. I never was quite 
so much disgusted with a man before in my 
life. He had told me one story, as it were, 
and his congregation an opposite story about 
the same thing. I have wondered sinee if 
he hadn’t been an actor in his younger days. 
He certainly had the knaek of telling very 
earnestly things whieh he did not believe.” 

“Such things, Mr. Jones,” said the evan- 
gelist, “are disgusting.” 

“Sueh things, Mr. Dayton, knock many a 
fellow off his feet, for a time at least, and 
sometimes forever. 

“The next minister I recall was a presid- 
ing elder in the Methodist church — a district 
superintendent. By this time I had become 
quite profieient in talking these modern 
ideas, and I fell easily into the hands of the 
superintendent one evening after his quar- 
209 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


terly meeting in the village. I say ‘eve- 
ning’ because he had held another service the 
forenoon of the same day about three miles 
out in the country. 

“Much to my surprise, I found him still 
willing to talk; and, still more to my sur- 
prise, I found him in perfect accord with 
nearly all the ideas I have recently presented 
to you about the Bible and Christianity — 
ideas as different from those in the Method- 
ist ritual as white is different from black. 

“ ‘But, Elder,’ I remarked, ‘you are not a 
Methodist at all!’ 

“ ‘Can’t help that, Mr. Jones, that’s what 
I believe anyway.’ 

“ ‘But you are not a type,’ said I, ‘or fair 
representative of the men high up in your 
denomination, are you?’ 

“ ‘I certainly am!’ insisted the man of 
piety. ‘The other men occupying positions 
similar to mine in the church believe just 
about as I do.’ 


210 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“I wish now,” said Delbert, “that I had 
had the courage to ask him how he enjoyed 
believing one thing and preaching another. 
Honestly, Mr. Dayton, if you can forgive 
the harshness, and you certainly can under 
such disgusting circumstances, this man de- 
served a jail sentence for misrepresentation. 
If anything in this world is disgusting, it is 
hypocrisy. 

“Then I found another minister, a man 
not over thirty-five years of age, who was 
as bright as a new dollar, and as two-faced 
as he was bright. This man was as liberal 
in his religious views as was the presiding 
elder I mentioned. In my interview with 
him, I was trying not to be hard on the fel- 
low, for somehow I couldn’t help liking him ; 
but he insisted on helping me characterize 
his conduct. 

“ T know just what you want to say,’ said 
he. ‘Why don’t you say it? You want to 
call me a hypocrite.’ 

211 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“ ‘Not quite so bad as that,’ said I, for I 
always did hate to call ugly names. 

“ ‘Well, at least you think me insincere, 
and I can’t blame you. But I expect to 
join the conference this fall, anyway, and 
shall do so without any compunctions. I’m 
going to oppose this abominable old creed 
of ours, all I can in safety to my own head, 
at least; and I expect to do so on the inside 
of the church.’ 

“ ‘Better stop flaunting false colors, old 
man, and better not take church vows at the 
conference which you know beforehand you 
cannot keep.’ ” 

“Did you tell him that, Mr. Jones?” 

“No, I just thought it.” 

“Well, you should have told him.” 

“Now, let me say, Mr. Dayton, that these 
men I have told you about are real flesh-and- 
blood ministers whom I can even now locate, 
and that I have related absolute facts only.” 

“I don’t wonder, Mr. Jones, that your 
212 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


summer’s experience gave your religion a 
terrible shaking up, and that you were com- 
pelled to reconsider the whole thing. But 
wasn’t your investigation a little too limited 
to justify you in making such a general de- 
duction?” 

“I hardly think so, Mr. Dayton, for I 
traveled about over a large part of the state. 
Besides you know yourself that the trial of 
ministers for heresy is becoming common 
reading matter these days in our news- 
papers.” 

“I know it, Mr. Jones.” 

“But don’t misunderstand me, Mr. Day- 
ton, the foundation stones of my faith are 
still intact.” 

“Good!” exclaimed the evangelist. “And 
you’ll be a minister yet, won’t you?” 

“I don’t think so, Mr. Dayton. I think 
I can do more good outside the church. 
However, I consider the work of the min- 
istry, when honestly pursued, to be the 
213 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


noblest Avork on earth, and the most needful. 

“And,” continued Delbert, “if all the lib- 
eral ministers Avho are noAv filling sectarian 
pulpits Avould only come out and show their 
true colors — AA^ould only declare publicly 
what they now tell behind the curtain — 
thousands upon thousands of groAA'ing boys, 
builded up in saner ideas, would be saved the 
embarrassment of seeing their religious in- 
heritance at a tremendous discount when, 
later, they go out into life, or land in some 
college town in pursuit of higher education. 

“When Jesus was on earth in the flesh, he 
said, ‘Ye must be born again.’ If he were to 
come back noAv, he would say the same thing ; 
for, one of his intellect could see that what 
we are suffering for to-day, is a religion in 
keeping with changed conditions and larger 
■thought.” 


214 


CHAPTER XVI. 

JONES IN CONSTRUCTIVE MOOD 

To say this religious controversy in 
Lesterville was stirring up the whole village 
and the country for miles around would be 
putting it none too strong. And, just as sis- 
ter states are one when a nation is assaulted, 
just so were the Methodists and Baptists 
and other straggling sectarians now one in 
Lesterville. Indeed, the Baptist minister 
was already taking a hand in the Methodist 
meetings. And instead of the debate put- 
ting a quietus on the revival, the Christian 
people were only singing the more and pray- 
ing the louder. Outsiders, though, were 
probably attending the meetings more in the 
hope of hearing something about the con- 
troversy than through any desire to have 
their souls saved. The prayers offered by the 
215 


AWAKENIXG OF LESTER VILLE 


evangelist and the other two ministers, it 
should be said, however, had contained the 
words and the spirit which told that only 
Lindliness prevailed. Unlike most events 
of this sort, the preachers had indulged in 
no ugly remarks at any time about how 
the teachers were imps of the lower world. 
Perhaps this is due partly to the fact that 
the people knew better and partly because 
the ministers early realized they stood a good 
ckance to be defeated. 

By way of explanation, it should be said 
that on Wednesday evening, before revival 
services, one of the deacons suggested to his 
pastor that all persons officially connected 
with both churches be permitted to attend 
the final meeting of the teachers and the 
preachers, wLich had already been agreed 
upon for four o’clock of the next day. Del- 
bert Jones was to speak constructively on 
religion. Permission was granted. 

Through a misunderstanding on the part 
216 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


of one of the good brothers, however, the 
statement got out that everybody was in- 
vited. Accordingly, as the hour approached, 
people of all grades of piety began to file 
into the school building to the astonishment 
of preachers and teachers alike. By 4:15 
all seats and aisles were filled and a double 
row stood around the room. And more were 
coming. At the suggestion of the Metho- 
dist minister, the meeting was adjourned to 
the Methodist church, where a much larger 
crowd could be accommodated. 

At 4:30 o’clock Delbert Jones began a 
short, plain talk, which in substance, though 
not in full, was as follows: 

“Friends of the church and the school: 

“Religion is the biggest thing in the 
w^orld. It is also the most important thing 
and the most unsettled. It is the biggest 
thing because it concerns two worlds, the 
present and the hereafter. It is the most im- 
portant because it has to do with all the 
217 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


occupations in life, and the unquestioned 
authority to spread its ‘Thou shalt’ and 
‘Thou shalt not’ everywhere. It is the most 
unsettled thing because, not content to con- 
cern itself with the practical and the know- 
able, it tries to speak authoritatively about 
many things which are impractical and un- 
knowable. But if there is any one thing more 
than another that people should be agreed 
upon, it is the great and essential principles 
of religion. Mark what I say, ‘the great and 
essentia! principles. Until we formulate 
such an agreement and band ourselves to- 
gether in visible organic form, we shall con- 
tinue to live in that attitude toward one an- 
other which shall mean to most people out- 
side the churches that nothing is sure about 
religion ; for the large number of competing 
denominations in every community lead the 
ordinary mind to subconscious distrust and 
religious indifference. 

“But how is this agreement to be reached? 

218 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“Not many months ago, I made a trip to 
a certain small city here in the state to visit 
some friends. On arriving at the place early 
in the afternoon, I learned that a railroad 
wreck had occurred in the vicinity the night 
before. The air was all astir with stories of 
the disaster. 

“One fellow said it occurred a mile west 
of town on the Whaleback road, that the 
east-bound midnight passenger flew the 
track owing to a defective rail, and that the 
engineer and fireman were both killed. The 
other trainmen and the passengers escaped 
without serious injury. He further stated 
that little damage was done to the engine or 
coaches. Another gentleman told the same 
story except that the engine was so badly 
smashed that it was fit only for the junk 
pile. Another said the engine could easily 
be repaired, but that two of the coaches were 
so seriously racked that rebuilding would 
be necessary. A lady, who had looked 
219 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


through some broken windows, declared that 
the upholstered seats were uninjured; while 
another said that several in the middle of 
the first coach were sadly twisted and 
marred. And so on, went the differences of 
opinion. 

“The next day was the day for the pub- 
lication of the local paper. But the editor 
had been so busy on account of the sickness 
of one of his printers that he had not found 
time to leave the shop. Being a particular 
friend of mine and knowing that I had been 
on the street all the afternoon, though I had 
not visited the wreck, he asked me to make 
a write-up for his paper. Here, in sub- 
stance, is what came out in the weekly next 
day: 

“ ‘A terrible wreck occurred last Wednes- 
day night on the Whaleback road one mile 
west of this city. The east-bound midnight 
passenger was derailed, killing the engineer 
and fireman. Others on board escaped with 
220 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


only minor injuries. The rolling stock was 
damaged, but to what extent it is too early 
to state at this writing. Particulars will be 
given later. A defective rail was the cause.’ 

“I could not sayj less, for all this was 
vouched for by all the spectators. I could 
not say more, for this is all they were agreed 
upon. I had faith in the coincident testi- 
mony of the witnesses, but could not be cer- 
tain about any more. 

“Now, a similar thing has happened to the 
Christian religion in this country in the last 
twenty-five years. It has collided with 
scholarship. And, friends, I offer you this 
afternoon, as a safe guide in the solution of 
this perplexing question of how to unite our 
much-divided; Christian forces, the ‘coinci- 
dent testimony’ principle just referred to. 
What the Christian churches are all agreed 
upon is probably true ; what they are divided 
over may all be false. 

“The great religious agreements consti- 
221 , 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


tute what, for the time being, I shall term 
the Common Christian Faith; and it is this 
common faith I am commending to you 
this afternoon as the one religious platform 
upon which all Christians could stand as a 
united church in the common cause of hu- 
manity, for salvation in this world and a fair 
chance for the next — Christianitj?^ with all 
theology abstracted, as it were, and only the 
pure religion of Jesus left.” 

No sooner had Delbert Jones completed 
his speech than a man about eighty years 
old rose up in the audience and began: 

“Say, boy, them’s the most sensible idees 
I’ve hearn these many a day. I hain’t got 
no edgucation, but I started out in life nigh 
onto sixty-five years ago with only one shirt 
to my back, an’ now they tell me I’m the 
heaviest taxpayer in this part of the county. 
It has took lots o’ common horse sense, 
young man, to ’cumulate all my property; 
an’ that common horse sense tells me you’ve 
222 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


got the bull by the horns in this religus biz- 
ness. You may not believe it, young feller, 
but I know jus’ what you mean by that ‘co- 
incident testimony’ or ‘religus agreement’ 
bizness.” 

“You bet! Uncle Si knows!” shouted a 
dozen voices in the audience. 

“Now,” resumed Uncle Si, “I’ve never 
jined a church in my life. Me an’ the ol’ 
lady thought forty years ago that we’d like 
to start out in the Christian life; an’ we 
’tended a revival meetin’ here in this same 
ol’ Baptist church that Elder Black’s a run- 
nin.’ The minister’s name then wuz Elder 
Barringer. An’ when he saw me an’ Nancy 
wuz warmin’ up to their meetin’s, he made 
a trip out to the farm an’ tuck dinner with 
us one day. After dinner the ol’ lady an’ 
me an’ the Elder sot down an’ talked the 
hull thing over. We got his story purty 
well in mind before he returned to town. 

“But when the Methodists got onto it 
223 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


that we wuz thinkin’ ’bout jinin’ a church, 
they made an excuse to work in a little of 
their missionary work on us, too. But the 
Baptist story an’ the Methodist story didn’t 
jibe, an’ so Nancy an’ me held off a little. 

“Soon the hull darned country ’round 
these parts heard ’bout us wantin’ to jine 
church. Well, then the preachers and the 
plus folks did come. An’, like decent folks, 
of course, we listened to them all. 

“But the Methodist folks told one story; 
an’ the Baptists another. An’ the United 
Brethren had their story. But, any way, 
Nancy an’ me got so tangled up in religus 
idees that we didn’t know hedz from talz. 

“But we know’d thej'^’d sed lots uv good 
things; an’, as dummed an ol’ fool as I am 
now, if I only had some edgucation I could 
set down an’ wu’ite the hull Christian story 
so’s they all say ‘amen.’ Course, there’d be 
lots of things I’d leave out; but nothin’ 
necessary to make it one beautiful story. 

224 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


All I’d leave out’d be the things they’re ar- 
guin’ over; an’ the obscure things; an’ the 
infinite things, which these finite minds can’t 
grab onto. 

“Young man, it’s that ‘coincident testi- 
mony’ bizness you talked ’bout that strikes 
the right spot in your ol’ Uncle Si. What 
all the Christian churches are agreed upon 
is the rock of my religus faith. Here I’ve 
been believin’ in the Christian religion for 
many years an’ didn’t relize it. Young man, 
I thank you for the name — the ‘Common 
Christian Church.’ 

“An’ now let me tell you somethin’. If 
this proposition of yourn proves to be a 
winnin’ idee in these parts, Josiah Bronson 
will build the finest religus temple in this 
section of the state. An’ the ol’ chap’l put 
into it the finest pipe organ in the country, 
an’ fix it up in every way becomin’ to the 
glorious idees which it is to proclaim, only 
the nabers must keep it a goin’!” 

225 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“And this temple,” spoke up some one in 
the audience, “shall be a memorial to the 
splendid life of Uncle Josiah Bronson, who 
has for many years embraced the unchal- 
lenged claims of the Christain faith, but 
who never had a name for his religion till 
Delbert Jones supplied it.” 

The large audience now rose and sang the 
first two verses of that splendid old hymn: 

Blest be the tie that binds 
Our hearts in Christian love; 

The fellowship of kindred minds 
Is like to that above. 

Before our Father’s throne. 

We pour our ardent prayers; 

Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one. 
Our comforts and our cares. 


226 


CHAPTER XVII. 


PLATFORM OF AGREEMENTS 

It had been announced that the meeting 
would stand adjourned after the singing of 
that non-sectarian hymn, “Blessed be the tie 
that binds.” But the people tarried. They 
began at once to comment enthusiastically 
in groups about the room on Uncle Si Bron- 
son’s proposition to build a splendid new 
church if the people would only lay aside 
their differences and unite on a common plat- 
form. 

One wise old lady could see that, if they 
did all join the same church, they would 
not all have to believe the same thing and to 
think by the same rule. “We could all sub- 
scribe to a simple statement of faith, em- 
phasize the points upon which we are agreed, 
227 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


and keep still about our differenees,” she 
remarked. 

But, the consensus of opinion seemed to 
be, after all, that it is only the theological 
discussions of those high up in the various 
churches; the decisions of church councils; 
and the patronizing reference to dogma by 
denominational papers that fosters and per- 
petuates religious division; not the church 
members themselves. 

One man in the crowd was heard to re- 
mark: 

“John, you and I are not at all agreed on 
the tariff question, and not exactly on the 
money question; but still we both belong to 
the Democratic party and both go to hear 
the same political orators. Why, then, 
couldn’t we belong to the same church, even 
though we don’t exactly agree in our reli- 
gion?” 

“We could,” came the reply. 

228 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 

Another man, who had an eye for busi- 
ness as well as religion, remarked : 

“It wouldn’t cost as much, either, to keep 
one church in repair as it does two. And it 
wouldn’t cost as much to heat and light and 
do the janitor work for one as it does for 
two. And our two mediocre choirs would 
make one rousing good one. And the sala- 
ries of our two ministers combined would 
hire a man of originality and power for our 
pulpit. All in all, it seems to me that to 
unite our two churches would be a mighty 
good thing, unless people would have to 
surrender so many of their Methodist or 
Baptist ideas as to make them dissatisfied 
and unhappy.” 

Delbert Jones heard this last statement, 
and replied: 

“But no one would be asked to give up 
anything. Difference of opinion and origi- 
nality of thought would not even be dis- 
couraged. The time has never been when 
229 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


people could all think alike in religion, and 
that time will probably never come ; further- 
more, I see no reason why it should come. 
Nor do I see any reason why people of the 
same creed should be in the same church 
together with other people excluded. To 
associate with those of different views would 
be to give all persons greater intellectuality 
and broader sympathy. But the important 
thing to urge upon the people would be to 
emphasize their agreements, work shoulder 
to shoulder for human uplift, and never 
Tnind their differences.” 

“Mity good way to put it, young man! 
.Mity good way!” spoke up Uncle Si. 

And the words, “emphasize their agree- 
ments,” which were overheard by those in 
that part of the church, soon created a de- 
mand for Delbert Jones to get up in the 
j)ulpit and enumerate the things upon wliich 
all Christian churches are a unit. Delbert 
proceeded in this wise: 

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“The people before me who have read re- 
ligious history will bear me out in the state- 
ment that for more than one thousand five 
hundred years the world had, in a large 
sense, only one Christian church. But, even 
in the time of the apostles, Paul rebuked the 
people at Corinth because of’ a tendency 
there to break up into sects. He said: 

“ Tt hath been declared to me that there 
are contentions among you. Every one of 
you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollis; 
and I of Cephis; and I of Christ. Is Christ 
divided? Now I beseech you, brethren, that 
ye all speak the same thing, and that there 
be no divisions among you — that ye be per- 
fectly joined together in the same mind and 
in the same judgment.’ 

“Paul wished them to speak those things 
only upon which they were all agreed, realiz- 
ing that there was enough agreement of 
mind and agreement of judgment on the 
essential points of their religion, at least, 
231 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


to hold the Christian people together as a 
united church, 

“Paul’s advice was fairly well heeded by 
the Christian people for more than one thou- 
sand five hundred years, when iNIartin 
Luther protested against the church and 
broke away. Then there were two churches 
— the Catholic and the Protestant. 

“Then, up rose John Calvin, and protest- 
ed against the Protestant church and broke 
away. Then there were three churches. 

“What Martin Luther did, whether justi- 
fied or not, fast became the fashion; and 
Huss and Zwingle and Wesley and Smith 
and Campbell and a host of others all along 
the line took a hand in the business of ‘pro- 
testing’ till we now have eighty-seven sep- 
arate and distinct denominations. 

“But, if we will call up all these sects into 
which the Christian church has been divided, 
and ask them to tell their story, we shall find 
them agreed upon the following points: 

232 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


THE COMMON PLATFORM 

First, we believe in God, the Creator and 
Preserver of the universe, to whom we 
ascribe intelligence and power and love. 

Second, by virtue of having created us, 
God is our Father. 

Third, inasmuch as we have a common 
Father, the human kind of earth are broth- 
ers and sisters. 

Fourth, these kindred, collectively con- 
sidered, constitute the God family. 

Fifth, the most essential thing in the fam- 
ily is love. Therefore, when God made us 
he implanted in his children that wonder- 
ful attribute. And, just as mortar holds 
the stones and bricks together in a building, 
just so should love bind the family to- 
gether. 

Sixth, we believe in prayer — that atti- 
tude of mind and heart which leads to noble 
resolutions and better life. 

Seventh, we believe that good conduct will 
233 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


be rewarded, and evil conduct, punished. 

Eighth, we believe in work — honest toil. 
The religious life is above all a life of ser- 
vice. We not only pray ‘Thy kingdom 
come,’ we work to bring it ! 

Ninth, we believe in the community 
church, as a place where men and women 
shall meet for inspiration and planning, to 
the end that larger results for the good of 
the individual and the community may be 
obtained through co-operation. 

Tenth, we believe in immortality and in 
Jesus Christ. 

“In a word, the churches all believe in the 
Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood 
of man; in love and service and prayer; in 
reward and punishment; in immortality; 
in J esus Christ ; and in the church ; also in the . 
evolution of character from infancy to age. 
These are the unchallenged and indestructi- 
ble Christian principles which have come 
down through the centuries. Let any indi- 
234 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


vidual believe all the more he can, these are 
the coincident testimony, the great agree- 
ments, the common platform. 

“Any respectable person who believes 
simply in the doctrine of ‘an immanent and 
loving God, and in the precept, be service- 
able to fellowmen’ should be received into 
membership and retained in the church so 
long as he ‘hallows’ the name of ‘Our Fa- 
ther’ and works for ‘Kingdom come.’ 

“The one advanced stand which should 
be taken — one in strictest keeping with the 
teaching and life of Jesus, but sadly neglect- 
ed by all Christian sects, is forcefully stated 
in these words by an eminent American: 
At the head of the local church should be a 
‘minister trained in the best methods of im- 
proving the social and industrial conditions 
of human life,’ one of whose chief duties it 
should be to impart that kind of knowledge 
and training to the members of his congre- 
gation. This minister should ‘concern him- 
235 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


self more with the cause of any particular 
sin than with the sin itself,’ and should ‘at- 
tack wrong and evil at their starting 
point.’ ” 

When Delbert Jones had finished, Uncle 
Si Bronson rose to his feet and began: 

“Enny buddy that can’t absorb an’ except 
them religus idees is too durned ignurent to 
live in a civilized naberhood, young man, and 
I think myself that it’s hi time the preachers 
wuz a gettin’ busy at doin’ somethin’ besides 
preachin,’ an’ prayin,’ an’ findin’ fault with 
sins almost forced on the people by soshul 
and industrial condishuns over which the 
people themselves hain’t got no control. 

“That idee, young man, of the preachers 
a gettin’ at the causes of wrongs instid of the 
wrongs themselves, an’ of attackin’ the 
wrongs at the startin’ point is a mity good 
idee! Now, ol’ Si Bronson’s got ’bout 
$50,000 to invest in that kind o’ religun fer 
Lesterville, if it’s goin’ to be a winnin’ idee.” 

236 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


A standing vote showed the huge audience 
unanimously in favor of the Common Chris- 
tian Faith, not as another religion, but as a 
united Christian church, one which would 
hold families together and communities to- 
gether for mutual uplift. And Uncle Si 
Bronson was picked up by two strong young 
farmers, one a Baptist and the other a Meth- 
odist, and carried to the rostrum, while all 
the people applauded an old man of eighty, 
who had always kept the Golden Rule, but 
who for many many years had been “so 
tangled up in religus idees that he didn’t 
know hedz from talz.” 


237 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

AN IMPORTANT PRINCIPLE 

Delbert Jones and Maytie Ray were con- 
scientious teachers. They did not permit 
even religion to make inroads on the time 
belonging to the children in their charge. 
After school of the day following the big 
meeting, Mr. Jones approached Miss Ray 
with this question: 

“Really, Miss Ray, what do you think of 
my proposition for all churches to adopt the 
same general platform, as it were, and the 
same name?” 

“There is surely enough material out of 
which to construct a highly intelligent and 
attractive religion, Mr. Jones, as your state- 
men of common principles goes to show. I 
certainly think it a fine idea.” 

238 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“And what about having a few large 
churches instead of so many small ones, as 
another improvement, Miss Ray?” 

“I think it needful everywhere,” came the 
reply, “but especially in the suburbs of large 
cities, in small towns, and in country places. 
The cost of supporting several small 
churches where one large one would accom- 
modate the people is wicked extravagance. 
Then, too, a small church means a small 
congregation, poor music, and a poor 
preacher. These conditions do not attract, 
and will never win the world for religion.”^ 
“Do you think,” asked Delbert, “that 
Uncle Si Bronson will build the church? 
He was very enthusiastic yesterday; but, of 
course, would not be held to his bargain un- 
der religious excitement.” 

“He will build it, Mr. Jones. He has said 
for several years that he intends to leave 
something behind to remind us of him. It 
looks, too, as though the people are going 
239 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


to lay aside their differences and all come 
into Uncle Si’s church.” 

“Yes, Miss Ray, hut a few of the older 
people with a ‘kink,’ as we might call it, in 
their religious system will find it no easy 
matter — that is, those who were reared in a 
sectarian home and have always attended a 
sectarian church. 

“Miss Ray, it is innocently done by par- 
ents, of course, and they should not be 
blamed ; but I tell you it is a sad mistake to 
give children a creed, or sectarian, bent. 
Children should he trained straight up, as it 
were. When they become old enough to 
think for themselves, then they could de- 
velop their own religious personality in the 
light of research and their own judgment. 

“The revival meeting, too,” continued 
Delbert, “is a great place to put that kink 
into folks. It doesn’t usually stay long in 
the older ones, hut the bandages used after 
such an event is over are often kept on the 
240 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


children by their parents, and they gi’ow up 
in a sort of deformed or unnatural way, as I 
might say. There is nothing, though, that 
I myself enjoy more than a good warm re- 
vival meeting. It affords an opportunity 
for a sort of spiritual tickling, as it were. 
And I don’t know that it hurts anyone, un- 
less he makes a religious decision under the 
spell and joins a church. This, however, I 
could never approve.” 

“Where in the world, then, Mr. Jones, 
would you convert people, if not in revival 
meetings ?” 

“You see. Miss Ray, the Church of Com- 
mon Faith would not trouble itself about 
the unknowable things of theological con- 
troversy. It would be plain and simple, and 
anyone with a fair degree of intelligence 
could sit down in his own home and convert 
himself, which after all is the best kind of 
conversion. If he desired membership in a 
local church, and he certainly should, he 
241 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


could apply for it the same as he would for 
membership in a club or a lodge. If it 
isn’t worth asking for, it isn’t worth having. 
Of course, an invitation to join the church is 
strictly proper and in good taste; but undue 
influence or excitement should not be used. 
That’s what I’m trying to get at.” 

“The Common Faith, though,” continued 
Delbert, “could be and should be taught to 
people from early childhood; for, unlike sec- 
tarianism, it would keep the individual erect, 
or ‘straight up,’ as I like to say. Children 
reared under such instruction would, at 
every stage of their development, be like 
that tall, straight tree out in the yard, not 
like the little bent one near it. 

“No, Miss Ray,” said Delbert, “just as 
there is but one way to teach that much- 
discussed subject of temperance, and that is 
to begin with the children, just so should 
it be with religion, begin with the children.” 

242 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“But how would you manage it, Mr. 
Jones?” 

“I’d teach religion by grades,” said Jones, 
“much as we teach our children in the public 
schools. Of course, at first the work would 
have to be looked after in the home and the 
Sunday School, for the most part. But it 
should be pursued in a systematic fashion by 
grades. The children should be put through 
a regular, though somewhat elastic, course 
of study and practice, and graduated much 
as we graduate them from our public 
schools. 

“I’d make a course covering twelve 
grades, and parallel grade for grade with 
the work in our ward schools and our high 
schools. A child should be as virtuous as 
he is smart. When he graduates from the 
eighth grade in the public school, he should 
graduate from the eighth grade of the 
church. When he completes the twelfth 
grade in the public high school and gets his 
243 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


diploma, he should receive another from the 
twelfth grade in the church. And, by this 
plan, if his character should not be as well 
trained as his head, his chances for a place 
of honor and trust in life would be impaired. 
That’s as it should be. This arrangement 
would give us better administrators of gov- 
ernment; more of the truthful kind of busi- 
ness men; more honest bankers; fewer of 
crooked people in other high places; and a 
more nearly square deal for the laboring 
people in health conditions, wages, and so 
forth.” 

“That has the ring of common sense, Mr. 
Jones, to say the least,” said Maytie, “and 
is worthy of the most serious consideration 
on the part of all people interested in pro- 
gress. I like what you say about rearing 
children ‘straight up,’ as you expressed it — 
of exercising care that there be no ‘kink’ or 
‘bent’ in their young moral natures — also the 
proposition to impart religious instruction 
244 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


and training by grades. These ideas seem 
good to me.” 

“You see, Miss Ray, religion should not 
come to people in a single leap or bound any 
more than education does, but in orderly 
growth. I know that the Christian doctrine 
of instantaneous salvation teaches people 
that they may sin away the best years of 
their lives and still come in for their share of 
heaven’s best reward. This sort of preach- 
ing has led many a man to put off the quit- 
ting of his sinful ways till days of gray hair 
or the deathbed, and has lost to the world 
thousands of useful lives. This is a bad doc- 
trine.” 

“But, such an embarrassing thing as this, 
Mr. Jones, would be obviated in a majority 
of cases by your plan to begin with young 
children and teach them religion by grades. 
Have you ever undertaken to write a graded 
course in religious instruction?” 

245 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


“I have,” replied Delbert, “and should 
like to show it to you one of these days.” 

“And I should like very much to see it, I 
assure you,” replied Maytie. “It must 
have taken lots of time and pains to prepare 
it. In the work of outlining such a course, 
what did you find it necessary to keep up- 
permost in mind?” 

“There were three things which I had to 
be careful about: 

“It was necessary to keep clear of every- 
thing of a sectarian character; to note the 
nature of child environment, near and re- 
mote, at every stage of his development; 
and, lastly, to have regard for the growing 
diameter of the child’s consciousness. My 
exact meaning and how I would accomplish 
this end will be more evident when you come 
to examine the course.” 

At this, the teachers returned to their 
homes. 


246 


CHAPTER XIX, 

A MONUMENT TO UNCLE SI 

When the hour came that evening for a 
meeting of all interested in one united 
church for Lesterville, a large good-natured 
audience was confronted by three preachers 
and two teachers on the rostrum before 
them. Education and religion had finally 
come to agree. 

Enrollment blanks were soon filled out by 
all the Methodist and Baptist brethren, and 
church fusion was accomplished. Not only 
that, but nearly all the other church-loving 
adults present were pleased to do likewise, 
inasmuch as the applicant for membership 
was simply required to repeat these words: 

“l DESIRE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LIFE AND 

religion; to make my heart and will 
247 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


MORE AND MORE RESPONSIVE TO HUMAN 

needs; and to assist this church finan- 
cially AND OTHERWISE IN A PROGRAM FOR 
HUMAN BETTERMENT.” 

Without pleadings of any kind, or pres- 
sure of any sort, a total enrollment of three 
hundred eighteen was secured before the 
close of service that evening for what was 
to be known as the Lesterville Community 
Church, an over-church, as it were, such as 
Delbert Jones had been dreaming about — 
one broad enough in principle to permit each 
individual member to make his own reli- 
gious decisions and maintain his ovm re- 
ligious personality, be it ever so peculiar. 
And those few thinking individuals of the 
town who, in the past, were wont to say that, 
“No church is big enough for a great man,” 
were now willing and glad to be silent. 

Union meetings, to alternate between the 
two churches, were announced; and the two 
choirs became one, with a violin and a cornet 
248 


AWAKENING OF LESTER VILLE 


to add to the charm of this part of religious 
service. 

If any people thought this prompt action 
was crowding Uncle Si into keeping his 
promise of erecting a $50,000 church, they 
were deceiving themselves ; for all the interest 
and energy displayed on that occasion made 
him the happiest individual in the audience, 
who forthwith purchased a sightly location 
for a beautiful structure to be erected on the 
same plan as a church recently built in a 
near-by city. 

An unusually mild winter made it possible 
to pursue the work without interruption. It 
was a good time, too, for securing help from 
the farmers, and the mechanics who lived in 
neighboring towns. 

On March first, the new church was dedi- 
cated; and, on the first Sunday in June, it 
was formally opened to the public. Both 
the building and its furnishings were as 
splendid as anyone could wish to see; and 
249 


AWAKENING OF LESTERVILLE 


such a service, with its beautiful music and 
masterful address, was never before heard in 
Lesterville as was heard that day when 
Uncle Si’s church was opened to receive its 
first worshipers. And, in front of its altar, 
on the evening of June twenty-first, two 
young people who for some time had realized 
they were practically one in thought and one 
in a broad religious faith became one in 
name. 

[finis] ’ 


250 



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